Diksha Sundriyal
In Hulu’s ‘Under the Bridge,’ a 14-year-old girl is lured out by her friends to a party at the bridge, which is a common hangout spot. The girl, desperate for approval and fitting in, decides to join them but soon discovers it is a ploy to get her out of her house and alone. What happens next changes the course of all the teenagers involved in the incident. The events unfold through the point of view of Rebecca Godfrey and Cam Bentland, the latter being the police officer on the case. The crime scene is the bridge, and around it forms the narrative of what really happened that fateful night.
Reena Virk was Murdered Under the Craigflower Bridge
The Craigflower Bridge, which crosses the Gorge Waterway, is located in Riverside Park and connects View Royal and Saanich. Due to its close proximity to Craigflower Elementary School and Shoreline Middle School, it has been a popular hangout spot for teenagers. This is where Reena Virk eventually ended up after she was called by her friends to hang out with them that night.
The cards were already stacked against Reena, who experienced the wrath of her friend, Nicole Cook (Josephine Bell in the show), whom she had wronged by spreading all kinds of rumors about her. Nicole and a few other girls ganged up on Reena, dragging her under the bridge where they beat her up, leaving her with bruises that were later found to have been pretty damaging on their own. Believing that she had been through the worst of it, Reena tried to leave the site, but as she crossed over the bridge, she was followed by Kelly Ellard and Warren Glowatski, who had also beaten her with the rest of the group. Once they crossed over, the duo forced Reena under the bridge, where, after once again beating her, they drowned her.
Tainted by the crime that took place there, Craigflower Bridge has been through a major renovation in the 2012-2014 cycle. Originally built in 1933, it used to be a timber trestle, but over the years, the wooden bridge was left structurally unsound, with its parts rotting and cracked and unable to bear the weight of heavier vehicles passing through it. Torn down in 2012, the plans for the new bridge made it sturdier and expanded it to include several lanes, including those for cyclists, pedestrians, and fishing. The Nanaimo-based firm, called Herold Engineering, received the contract for designing the bridge. Apart from the extended lanes and sidewalks, new safety features were also added to the structure. The project also included upgrading Admirals Road with the additional construction and upgrade of safety features, storm drains, and sewer lines, among other things.
The 120-meter-long bridge also had its deck raised by 1.5 meters to account for the changing tidal water. Additionally, lights were added to its bridge piers to enhance its beauty after sunset. The project, which cost around $15 million, was undertaken between April 2013 and May 2014, during which limited passage was allowed through it. In 2015, the bridge received the BC Steel Design Award of Excellence from The Canadian Institute of Steel Construction.
