The Mine Under the Bridge
Beneath the High Level Bridge sits a piece of Lethbridge history most people never think to look for: Galt Mine No. 8.
Back in 1908, there were already plans to sink a mine into the coulee just west of the city — the same ground the bridge would eventually stand on. But that year's flood delayed the bridge's construction by about a year and slowed access to the site, so the company built elsewhere first, at Hardieville, and didn't return to the west coulee until 1935.
When Galt No. 8 finally opened there, the miners were working directly beneath the railway line and the High Level Bridge itself — one of the tallest, longest trestle structures in the world. That put the operators in a tricky spot: mine too aggressively and you risk undermining the very bridge holding up the tracks above you.
Their solution was simple and deliberate — leave a pillar of coal uncut, directly under the tracks and the bridge, to hold the ground stable. It stayed that way for the mine's entire 22-year run.
Galt No. 8 closed in 1957, the last coal mine to operate within city limits. Remnants of it still stand on the West Lethbridge skyline today.
Galt #8 mine, Photo by Robert Messenger
