Burrard Inlet
| Burrard Inlet | |
|---|---|
| səl̓ilw̓ət(Halkomelem) | |
 Aerial view of Burrard Inlet | |
  Burrard Inlet Location in British Columbia | |
 Map of Burrard Inlet | |
| Location | Greater Vancouver,British Columbia,Canada |
| Coordinates | 49°17′55″N123°05′07″W/ 49.29861°N 123.08528°W |
| Type | Fjord |
| Part of | Salish Sea |
| Max. length | 44 km (27 mi) |
| Sections/sub-basins | English Bay,False Creek,Indian Arm |
Burrard Inlet(Halkomelem:səl̓ilw̓ət) is a shallow-sidedfjordin the northwesternLower Mainland,British Columbia, Canada.[1][2]Formed during thelast Ice Age,it separates theCity of Vancouverand the rest of the lowlandBurrard Peninsulato the south from the coastal slopes of theNorth Shore Mountains,which spanWest Vancouverand theCityandDistrict of North Vancouverto the north.
Burrard Inlet opens west into theStrait of GeorgiabetweenPoint AtkinsonandPoint Grey.Vancouver'sDowntown Peninsulaprotrudes northwesterly into the inlet, separating it into the wide outer Burrard Inlet to the west and the elongated inner Burrard Inlet to the east. The southeastern portion of the outer inlet is an openbayknown asEnglish Bay,which has a narrow easterninletcalledFalse Creek.The 400-metre-wide (1,300 ft)straitbetweenProspect Pointand thesandbanksjust east of theCapilano Rivermouth,which connects the inlet's outer and inner sections, is known as theFirst Narrows,traversed by theLions Gate Bridge.The inner inlet then widens intoVancouver Harbour,which hosts thePort of Vancouver,Canada's largest port.
At the eastern end of the harbour, Burrard Inlet narrows again into a 350-metre-wide (1,150 ft) strait betweenBurnaby Heightsand the mouth of theSeymour River,known as theSecond Narrows,which is traversed by theIronworkers Memorial Bridgeand theSecond Narrows Rail Bridge.After the Second Narrows, it widens again and continues east until theheadlandnearDollarton,where it splits into twoarms.The longer arm, known asIndian Arm,extends northerly betweenMount SeymourandEagle Mountainuntil it meets thedeltasofIndian Rivermouth. The shorter arm, known asPort Moody ArmorMoody Inlet,courses further east for another 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) past a 320-metre-wide (1,050 ft) strait (traversed only byoverhead powerlines) betweenBurnaby Mountainand thebluffsofBelcarra Regional Park.Port Moody Arm is almost completely encompassed by the City ofPort Moody.
History
[edit]What is now known as Burrard Inlet has been home to theIndigenous peoplesof theMusqueam,SquamishandTsleil-waututh Bands,who have resided in this territory for thousands of years. In 1791, the first European explorers in the region,Juan CarrascoandJosé María Narváez,sailing under orders ofFrancisco de Eliza,entered the western part of the inlet in their ship,Santa Saturnina.They failed to find theFraser River,mistaking the lowland of the river's delta as a major inlet of the sea, which they named Canal de Floridablanca.[3]This led to one of the prime objectives of the 1792 expedition ofDionisio Alcalá Galiano,which was to determine the exact nature of the Canal de Floridablanca. Galiano spent many days exploring the general area, realizing that there was a great river there and sighting Burrard Inlet itself on June 19, 1792. Just days later, the inlet was again named by CaptainGeorge Vancouver,after his friend and former shipmate CaptainHarry Burrard Neale.[4][5]: 33
In 1888, the inlet was described inThe British Columbia Pilotpublished by theBritish Admiraltyas follows.
Burrard inlet differs from most of the great sounds of this coast in being comparatively easy of access to steam vessels of any size or class, and in the convenient depth of water for anchorage which may be found in almost every part of it; its close proximity to Fraser river, with the great facilities for constructing roads between the two places, and its having become the terminus of the Pacific and Canadian Railway, likewise add considerably to its importance. It is divided into three distinct harbours, viz., English bay or the outer anchorage; Vancouver (formerly called Coal harbour), above the First Narrows; and Port Moody at the head of the eastern arm of the inlet.[6]
Geography
[edit]
The inlet runs almost directly east from theStrait of GeorgiatoPort Moody.About two-thirds of the way east from the mouth of the inlet, the steep-sidedIndian Armbranches off to the north betweenBelcarraandDeep Coveon into thePacific Ranges.
Near the mouth of the inlet, a small section of the inlet along the curved stretch of theBurrard Peninsulais namedEnglish Bay.From English Bay, a small inlet namedFalse Creekbranches off to the east and incises the peninsula.
Extent
[edit]The extent of Burrard Inlet is defined as a line betweenPoint AtkinsonandPoint Greyon the west, the end of Port Moody Arm on the east, and the head ofIndian Armon the north.[7]The inlet is about 31 kilometres (19 mi) long from theStrait of GeorgiatoPort Moody,or about 44 kilometres (27 mi) from the Strait of Georgia to the head of Indian Arm.
Settlements
[edit]Settlements on the shores of Burrard Inlet include Vancouver, West Vancouver, North Vancouver,Burnaby,and Port Moody. Three bridges, the First Narrows Bridge (aliasLions Gate Bridge) (built in the 1930s), theIronworkers Memorial Second Narrows Crossing(1960) and theCNR railway bridge(1969) at the Second Narrows, and theSeaBuspassenger ferry, cross the inlet. Aside from just east of the inlet's mouth (where it includes English Bay), it is widest (about 3 km or 1.9 mi) between the First and Second Narrows, also the busiest part ofVancouver's port.
Port of Vancouver
[edit]
Protected from the open ocean, the calm waters of Burrard Inlet form Vancouver's primary port area, an excellent one for large ocean-going ships. While some of the shoreline is residential and commercial, much is port-industrial, including railyards, terminals for container and bulk cargo ships, grain elevators, and (towards the eastern end) oil refineries. Freighters waiting to load or discharge cargoes in the inlet often anchor inEnglish Bay,which lies south of the mouth of the inlet and is separated from it by Vancouver's downtown peninsula andStanley Park.
On the main inlet, a few park areas remain forested as they were centuries ago, but the steep slopes of Indian Arm are so impassable that most have seen no development, despite the proximity of such a major city. Only in 2003 was a rough wilderness hiking trail around the whole of Indian Arm completed, and it was the work of one man over many years.[8]
Major crossings
[edit]The major crossings of Burrard Inlet, from west to east, are as follows:
References
[edit]- ^"Burrard Inlet".Geographical Names Data Base.Natural Resources Canada.Retrieved2020-06-16.
- ^"səl̓ilw̓ət (Sleilwaut) - Burrard Inlet/Indian Arm (Tsleil-Waututh) - The Bill Reid Centre - Simon Fraser University".sfu.ca.Retrieved12 June2021.
- ^Kendrick, John (1990).The Voyage ofSutilandMexicana,1792: The last Spanish exploration of the Northwest Coast of America.Spokane, Washington: The Arthur H. Clark Company. p. 19.ISBN0-87062-203-X.
- ^Bartroli, Thomas.Genesis of Vancouver City.Vancouver: (Self-published). 1997
- ^Akrigg, G.P.V.; Akrigg, Helen B. (1986),British Columbia Place Names(3rd, 1997 ed.), Vancouver: UBC Press,ISBN0-7748-0636-2
- ^Hydrographic Office of the British Admiralty (1888). The British Columbia Pilot. London, UK: Hydrographic Department of the Admiralty. Page 136.
- ^"BC Geographical Names".apps.gov.bc.ca.Archivedfrom the original on 2016-03-03.
- ^Charles Montgomery (Oct 2001)."The Blazer".Western Living Magazine.Archived fromthe originalon 2007-02-27.
External links
[edit]
- 2002 Aerial Photos of Vancouver,including several views of Burrard Inlet and its shores
