Ironworkers Memorial Bridge’s Memorial – 68th anniversary
Wednesday, June 17
1 p.m.
New Brighton Park, Vancouver

THE annual memorial event will be attended by last surviving Ironworker Lucien Lessard, now 97, who still remembers falling from the bridge on June 17, 1958.

The bridge that spans the Second Narrows crossing between East Vancouver and the North Shore is known simply as The Ironworkers Memorial Bridge.

You hear it on traffic reports. You hear it when Google reads out your directions. You talk about it when traffic gets bad.

We all know what it’s called, but it can be easy to forget why the name exists in the first place.

It all goes back to June 17, 1958.

Lucien Lessard and his colleagues were working on the bridgedeck when, suddenly, it collapsed, crashing into the waters below.
19 people died in the tragedy.

“The bridge came out from underneath our feet and I was just following the locomotive from the deck down to the water. When I hit the water, I don’t really exactly remember. I was running out of air,” said Lessard. “When I came out of the water, I was lost. I was stunned. I saw some debris floating. I managed to float until a boat fished me out.”

Lessard felt lucky to survive and eventually returned to complete the project.

“I had a broken leg, a broken arm and plenty of bruises. They put me in the back of a pickup and took me to North Vancouver hospital. I spent three or four months there.”

Now, 68 years later, Lessard continues to remember that day and honour the lives that were lost at the annual Ironworkers Bridge Memorial event, organized by Ironworkers Local 97. The event will be held Wednesday, June 17 at New Brighton Park in Vancouver. Proceedings will begin at 1 p.m.

B.C. Labour Minister Jennifer Whiteside will be in attendance at the event and share remarks in remembrance.

Ironworkers Local 97 business manager Doug Parton said the memorial is an opportunity to remember the sacrifices of workers who came before us and to re-commit to the highest standards of safety.

“Every year we come together to remember this tragic day and pay respects to those who died,” said Parton. “This incident reminds us that when safety takes a back seat at work, things can go badly very quickly.”