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Here are a few significant projects from the first 30 years of the Association:
The Shoal Lake aqueduct was a significant development of a scale indicative of the confidence of Winnipegers in the first decade of the 20th century. The aqueduct is 135 kilometres long. The elevation of the Shoal Lake intake is 92 m higher than Winnipeg allowing gravity to be used to deliver water to the Winnipeg area. The aqueduct was built of concrete with a dish shaped floor and a parabolic shell un-reinforced arch.
Our picture shows W.G. Chace, chief engineer of the project, standing in the aqueduct under construction. Mr. Chace was president of APEM in 1928.
The license for 455 million litres/day of water is still adequate for Winnipeg today. The aqueduct, at the water consumption rates used at the time of design, would have sustained a city of over 6 million.
In October 1915 a claim for a site 2 miles from the northwest arm of Schist Lake, 3 1/2 miles SE of Flin Flon, was registered. It was named Mandy, after the wife of one of the prospectors.
An option was taken to develop and operate the mine by the Mandy Mining Company, a subsidiary of Tonopah Mining Co. of Nevada.
The mine was constructed using 85 miles of winter road built from The Pas. Diamond drilling began in January 1916. The ore was taken by sleigh from the Mandy Mines 40 miles to Sturgeon Landing. There the Ross Navigation Company used a steam tug and barges to ship the ore a further 130 miles to The Pas. It was then taken by rail to Trail B.C. for smelting.
In 1917, a power house and vertical shaft to 100 feet were built on the Mandy claim.
In 1919 the Mandy Mine closed and the equipment was sold to a Canadian syndicate with a Flin Flon property.
These early wood elevators are now a National Historic Site recognized as a unique and enduring architectural symbol of the prairies. Four of these have been standing since the railroad arrived in 1922.
The United Grain Growers (UGG) was the first, it was replaced in 1925 after a fire. The UGG elevator has horizontal balloon annexes constructed in 1949.
The Northern Elevator Company built next to UGG in 1922.
The Paterson elevator has a dust collection system.
Reliance added its second elevator in 1941.
The generating station was built by Winnipeg Electric Railway Company. This entrepreneurial organization was responsible for public transport and survives to this day as a part of Winnipeg Transit. It pioneered new design features that have since become common.
By 1928 six units were installed with a capacity of 132 MW.
The station is in operation today and Great Falls is the headquarters for all 4 Manitoba Hydro Winnipeg River stations.
This arena was initially built in River Park, located on the Red River at the south end of Osborne Street. These pictures show a wood frame construction.
Later, the arena was floated down the Red River in flood to be used at the University of Manitoba.
This photo shows the Portage la Prairie substation #2. This was the westernmost termination of a transmission lines from the Pointe du Bois generating station on the Winnipeg River.
After Portage La Prairie was connected by the first Manitoba Power Commission line in 1920, a 66 kilometer steel tower line, rural electrification began to materialize in 1921 when the towns of Carman, Minnedosa, Morden, Roland, and Virden received electrical service. Over the next 7 years 28 more towns and villages were connected. The 1929 financial crash and WW II halted further plans.
The second photo shows a threshing machine run by an electric motor.
The dam is of a Camere design, the only similar design in the world being on the Seine River in France. The fixed structure is of concrete/stonework with a steel truss bridge. The design included frames from the piers which contained roll-off curtains of wooden lathers.
The lock is 200 feet long, 45 feet wide, with 9 feet over the sill and a lift of 21 feet.
The dam uses automatic self-balancing valves, which were the largest of this type in the world at the time. The lock was completed 1910, the bridge in 1913, A bascule lift was added later to accommodate tall ships. The dam and lock aid navigation over Lister Rapids, for traffic to and from Lake Winnipeg and the system also regulates the water level in Winnipeg.
The impact of the lock was profound. It enabled river traffic to be loaded in Winnipeg rather than Selkirk and effectively enabled the city to grow into a supply hub for Northern Manitoba, a role that had been Selkirk's.
The bridge is over the Whitemud River between Gladstone and Neepawa, Manitoba. It is fine example of a reinforced concrete arch. It was built in 1916 and has a 17 meter clear waterway opening.
Its significance to the Association is that it was designed by M.A. Lyons the first elected President of the Association of Professional Engineers of the Province of Manitoba. Mr. Lyons was also the first official 'Bridge Engineer' of the Highways Department of Manitoba. M.A. Lyons graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1910. He also served on the St. James Town Planning Commission and the Greater Winnipeg Town Planning commission.
The bridge had a long service life and is still standing but unused as the roadway has been realigned.