Québec’s Arvida Bridge, an engineering marvel and the world’s first bridge entirely built of aluminum, has appeared on one of the final Picture Postage stamps.
Before Canada Post cancelled its long-running personalized stamp program on Sept. 1, the Montréal-based Centre d’interprétation et de recherche philatélique du Canada (Philatelic Research & Interpretation Centre of Canada) ordered 200 copies of the Arvida stamp.
Officials with the non-profit organization unveiled the design on Sept. 1 during the annual congress of the Committee for the Conservation of Industrial Heritage, based in England.
“Due to its aluminum design, Arvida’s bridge weighs 163 tons. A similar steel bridge would weigh more than twice that,” according to the Québec Cultural Heritage Directory website, patrimoine-culturel.gouv.qc.ca.
“The construction of the Arvida Bridge constitutes an important event in the history of civil engineering both in Quebec, in Canada and internationally.”
Built in 1949-50, the bridge spans the stamp, some of which have been used on mail and cancelled with a “Montréal 375” pictorial postmark.