SASKATOON – While many Saskatonians are adjusting to a new view of the river after two spans of the century old Traffic Bridge came down on Sunday morning – one man is reminiscing in a different way. Andre Lalonde, a self described history buff, began working on a replica bridge in 2013-14 when the fate of the bridge became clear to him.
Over the course of a year-and-a-half Lalonde used the original blueprints from the City of Saskatoon to design a replica bridge through a Lego program. He then spent months sourcing the pieces.
“It has 16,000 parts all ordered through different areas of the world,” said Lalonde. “It has costed me about $2,000, mostly through my own funds as well as some help from the Heritage Society and some friends.”
READ MORE: Traffic Bridge design released by the City of Saskatoon
With pieces purchased, the assembly began and took roughly two to three months to complete.
Lalonde is pleased with the completed product but admits it was challenging. “Of course being an arch type bridge with interesting corners to deal with, Lego isn’t exactly a friendly medium to deal with,” he explained.
The replica is 25 feet long and Lalonde keeps one span disconnected from the display in order to properly store it in his basement.
“As far as the actual dimensions of the bridge, they do fit correctly with the real thing so a mini figure for a Lego piece is actually to scale with what a person would be on the real bridge.”
Lalonde takes the replica traffic bridge to model train shows, transported by trailer.
Watch below: Demolition of Saskatoon’s century-old Traffic Bridge
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