PEI bridges a gap

Author: By Richard P. Carpenter, Globe Staff

Date: SUNDAY, May 11, 1997

Page: M8

Section: Travel

The Confederation Bridge, which will open June 1, is designed to provide an easy and speedy way to visit the island, whose tourists arrive mostly by motor vehicle. But the $588 million concrete bridge, which links the island to Canada's mainland via Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick, should be something of a tourist attraction in itself. Consider:

- At 12.9 kilometers, it is the world's longest bridge that crosses (sometimes) ice-covered waters.

- More than 6,000 workers from around the world helped build the bridge in less than four years.

- The span is curved -- and for good reason. More accidents are believed to occur on straight bridges because drivers become inattentive. Shaping the bridge like an ``S'' should eliminate any hypnotic effect.

- About 2,000 vehicles can cross in an hour, each taking about 12 minutes. The toll, yet to be set, is expected to be comparable to the cost of ferry crossings, and will be collected one way -- on the Prince Edward Island side.

- The bridge consists of 44 principal spans, with a 630-foot-long main girder weighing 7,500 tons.

- While drivers will have a panoramic view of the Northumberland Strait, the 3 1/2-foot-high guardrails will prevent them from seeing the water directly around them unless they're in a van or bus.

When the project was announced, a few people considered this a bridge too near, saying the link to the mainland could destroy the island's special charm. We don't think so.

After all, Prince Edward Island's soil will still be rose-colored and its grass will still be many shades of green. The famous lobster dinners will taste as sweet, and the lupines will continue to bloom ubiquitously and gorgeously.

Generations to come will make the pilgrimage to Green Gables, home of Lucy Maud Montgomery's fictional but lovable red-haired orphan, Anne. Seals will continue to frolic offshore. Golfers will still obsessively chase a little white ball. There will still be parks and beaches and bike trails and lighthouses and waters -- and plays and night life and attractions for youngsters, too.

Friendly islanders will still take time to chat with strangers, and will continue to farm potatoes, haul in lobsters, cultivate mussels, grow blueberries and strawberries, milk cows, and raise horses and sheep.

In fact, if it were June, we'd take our hands off the keyboard, put them on the steering wheel, and take a long and leisurely drive, culminating in a trip over a certain 9-mile bridge.

(For more information on Prince Edward Island, call (800-463-4PEI.)

Travel Trivia: Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec and the Northwest Territories all border the same body of water. What is it? (Answer at end of column.)

Quotable: ``Onward through the fog!'' -- slogan on a T-shirt in Nova Scotia (which, despite the slogan, has its share of sunny days).

In a name: Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, was named for the red berries that grew along its riverbank.

Chicken bones, anyone? They're chocolate on the inside and hard cinanamon candy on the outside and they bear the unlikely name of ``chicken bones.'' They're a New Brunswick treat that dates to 1885 when a candy maker named Frank Sparhawk came up with the confection for Ganong Bros. of St. Stephen, N.B.

Move over, Mrs. O'Leary's cow: On a hot day in 1892, a man named Tommy Fitzpatrick accidentally dropped his pipe while working in a barn in St. John's, Newfoundland. The ashes set off a fire that eventually destroyed more than half the town.

They've got a friend: More than 20 attractions in Calgary, Alberta, have received the city's special Child Friendly designation. A few examples: Youngsters can create arts and crafts at the Leighton Centre, have ``breakfast with the elephants'' at the Calgary Zoo, or explore outer space at the Science Centre. Even the airport has KidsPort, a play area.

Snappy slogan: The Guardian, a daily newspaper, boasts on its masthead that it ``covers Prince Edward Island like the dew.''

That's a lot of water: One hundred billion tons of water -- almost equal to the 24-hour flow of all the rivers in the world -- make up the tidal surge every six hours in New Brunswick's Bay of Fundy, producing the world's highest tides.

Bus driver joke: ``Here in Toronto we have two seasons: the winter season and the construction season.''

Mailbag: Last week, we asked if any New Hampshire communities could be considered the unofficial capital of something. Clarence A. Burley of North Brookfield, Mass., replies, ``Some refer to Hampton Beach as the Fried Dough Capital of the World.''

Did you guess it? Travel Trivia answer: Manitoba, Ontario, Quebec, and the Northwest Territories all border Hudson Bay.