iN VIDEO: B.C. Highway’s unknown engineering marvel is the Hollywood Bowl

Feats of engineering ingenuity, like bridges and overpasses, are easy to spot along British Columbia highways.

But there is a structure along B.C.s Trans Canada Highway 1 through the Fraser Canyon that’s little known to the countless motorists who have been driving by it since its construction in the 1960s.

The structure, known unofficially as the “Hollywood Bowl,” is a huge concrete support barrier put in place to support the highway.

Ministry of Transportation and Infrastructure media relations Danielle Pope says the structure was built in 1940. It's not known how many cubic yards of concrete were used in the construction, but it's believed to be the only structure of this shape and size in the province.

Tran BC says there is no indication of its existence from a highway vantage, with the only hint of what lies below being a concrete roadside barrier that changes to a cast-in-place concrete barrier as the vehicle crosses over it.

Pope says the ministry strongly discourages public access to the site due to falling rock and other hazards.

The structure is located between Hells Gate airtram and Farabee tunnel on the Trans Canada Highway through the Fraser canyon.

Below, Connect Media’s Riley Forman produced this YouTube video of the giant structure.

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Steve Arstad

I have been looking for news in the South Okanagan - SImilkameen for 20 years, having turned a part time lifelong interest into a full time profession. After five years publishing a local newsletter, several years working as a correspondent / stringer for several local newspapers and seven years as editor of a Similkameen weekly newspaper, I joined iNFOnews.ca in 2014. My goal in the news industry has always been to deliver accurate and interesting articles about local people and places. My interest in the profession is life long - from my earliest memories of grade school, I have enjoyed writing.
As an airborne geophysical surveyor I travelled extensively around the globe, conducting helicopter borne mineral surveys.
I also spent several years at an Okanagan Falls based lumber mill, producing glued-wood laminated products.
As a member of the Kaleden community, I have been involved in the Kaleden Volunteer Fire Department for 22 years, and also serve as a trustee on the Kaleden Irrigation District board.
I am currently married to my wife Judy, of 26 years. We are empty-nesters who enjoy living in Kaleden with our Welsh Terrier, Angus, and cat, Tibbs.
Our two daughters, Meagan and Hayley, reside in Richmond and Victoria, respectively.

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