John Edward Schwitzer

John Edward Schwitzer (April 1870 – January 1911) was assistant chief engineer for the Canadian Pacific Railway in the early 1900s.

This eliminated a problematic series of smaller wood bridges used on the old route.

A smaller bridge, similar to the one in Lethbridge, was built near Monarch, Alberta as part of the rerouting.

[1] Another project which he is most noted for was the Spiral Tunnels, which eliminated the infamous Big Hill, where the mainline dropped on a 4.4% grade near Field, British Columbia.

The tunnels allowed the grade to drop to 2.2%, making it a more safer and less-costly route.