The Petitcodiac River is a river in south eastern New Brunswick, also once known as Chocolate River because of its muddy banks . It runs through Westmorland ,Albert and King’s counties running around 48 or 49 miles.
The MicMaws were the ones who used the river as roads at first and are the ones who gave the river its name of Pet kuat kwec ak or Epetkutkutgyek, meaning bending round in a bow, and later came the Acadians who sailed the river and were later deported ,both the French and English had various spellings for the river but none so different than the way it was called on a 1784 Loyalist claim which was Petit Coat Jack.
The Petitcodiac River with its strong tides that when going out could carry sailing ships to the open seas before their sails were raised thus making Moncton New Brunswick into a settlement base. So ships came in with the tide and went out with the tides . It is so hard to imagine today’s Petitcodiac River as being so busy. But it was.
And with the Petitcodiac River came the Tidal Bore .Tidal bore is the inward rush of waters up the Petitcodiac River of New Brunswick from the Bay of Fundy which had one of the highest tides or of the world. Waters enters the estuary of the Petitcodiac river through the form or a Tidal Wave or a Bore from 4 to 6 ft high. The difference between extreme high and extreme low in Moncton was 30 ft. This dept was before they built the causeway in 1968.
In 1968, a controversial rock-and-earth fill causeway was built between Moncton and Riverview to prevent agricultural flooding and to carry a crossing between the two communities. The causeway caused many problems for the river and its surrounding ecosystem. An estimated thirteen million cubic yards of silt was deposited in the 4.7 km of river downstream from the causeway in the first three years following construction. The causeway restricted the movement of fish and reduced the region's salmon catches by 82 percent. Water quality has also dropped thanks to industrial expansion around the area. In 2003, Earthwild International designated the Petitcodiac River as the most endangered river in Canada because of these problems. On April 14, 2010, the causeway's gates were opened permanently as part of a $68 million three-phase project designed to restore the river, to be completed by 2015.
Now that the causeway gates are open, there is already a change in the river.
The Petitcodiac River is changing faster than predicted only two months after the controversial causeway gates were opened, according to a local engineering firm.
After more than 40 years, the causeway gates were opened on April 14 to both cheers and jeers.
Jacques Paynter, an engineer from AMEC Earth and Environmental, the firm overseeing the river restoration, said the river banks are already widening at a noticeable pace and the Petitcodiac's famous tidal bore is also growing.
"We were actually anticipating a fairly modest increase in height. It seems to be already exceeding what we might have expected," Paynter said of the tidal bore.
The tidal bore is a regularly occurring wave that travels up the Petitcodiac River as the tide changes. The tidal bore has been a tourist attraction in the area for decades.
The causeway was built in 1968 and the bridge over top of it connected Moncton and Riverview. Its construction also created a permanent block of the river, which created a headpond known as Lake Petitcodiac.
Paynter said scientific tests are being carried out as the changes take place and that involves closing the causeway gates off and on.
Paynter said the flow of fish in the river is also encouraging. Roughly 40,000 Gaspereau were counted in just one day near Sails. Since this report the gates are open and let’s hope they stay open, maybe remove the causeway totally and build another bridge.
I have created a few products in case you would like souvenirs of the Petitcodiac River and Tidal Bore of the past, maybe years from now our grandchildren will be able to compare the differences in the once Mighty Petitcodiac River. I sure hope so.
You can find my products that I am posting in my shop at
The mugs can be changed to steins,they are in my mug folder and the bumper sticker is in my miscellaneous folder, the postcard in my greeting card folder and the shirt in my tee shirt folder. Thanks to Gerry Allain for permission to use his image. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day
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