Albert Memorial Bridge

The Albert Memorial Bridge in Regina, Saskatchewan, stretches 840 feet long, yet spans across a measly trickle of water approximately 3 feet wide. It thus boasts the bizarre claim to fame of being the longest bridge over the shortest span of water in the world.

The bridge was constructed as a Great Depression-era make-work project, and was officially opened on November 10, 1930. Wascana Lake was dammed at the bridge and just a small stream of water, Wascana Creek, ran underneath the bridge, continuing westward through the city. 

Initially meant to be a World War I memorial, the bridge included spaces for cartouches and name plaques for fallen Saskatchewan soldiers. It was designed in the Egyptian Revival Art Deco style, featuring four large Egyptian needles, ceramic glazed papyrus columns, lights styled after Egyptian funerary pots, and other Egyptian-themed elements. 

Unfortunately, during the 2009 restoration, the funerary pot lights were replaced with Victorian-style cast iron lights on bronze Corinthian capitals, completely at odds with the rest of the bridges design and Tutankhamania theme. But the structure’s other standout feature, its unusual ratio of bridge to water, has remained unchanged.