October 8, 1998
In the west-central region of Saskatchewan, a newly completed vehicular bridge in that Canadian province’s town of Outlook was officially opened. This structure, which crosses the South Saskatchewan River, was the second version of the Outlook Bridge to be built in that vicinity. The original Outlook Bridge – nicknamed the “Big Orange Bridge – had been built in 1936. It was closed after the opening of the new bridge.
Judy Bradley (born in 1952), who was Saskatchewan’s minister of highways and transportation from 1997 to 1999, inaugurated this replacement bridge. “The construction of this new bridge is an investment in the continuing economic growth in Outlook and the surrounding area,” she said. “It represents both an improvement for local traffic and a major investment in our provincial transportation network.”
Bob Stephenson (born in 1954), the mayor of Outlook between 1998 and 2016 (and a former professional hockey player), likewise weighed in on the significance of the newest crossing for the South Saskatchewan River. He asserted, “This new bridge improves on the vital east-west link recognized by our town’s founders in the early 1900s as so important to our growth and development.”
This structure, which is wider than the first Outlook Bridge, carries two lanes of Saskatchewan Highway 15. In 2012, the still-intact original bridge was converted into a crossing for pedestrians. (The accompanying 2025 photo of the new Outlook Bridge was taken from that structure’s predecessor.)
Photo Credit: Public Domain (https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/zero/1.0/deed.en)
For more information on both versions of the Outlook Bridge, please check out https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Outlook_Bridge
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