Bridges over Burlington Canal, Lake Ontario.

The highway along Burlington Beach, which separates Lake Ontario from Burlington Bay, on the shores of the latter of which Hamilton is situated, is carried over Burlington Canal, or Channel, by a swing bridge, which is also used by the Hamilton Radial Ry., running between Hamilton and Oakville. Owing to the increase of traffic, the Public Works Department decided, a little while ago, to replace the present bridge by a heavier one, of the trunnion bascule type, and a design was prepared by Strauss Bascule Bridge Co., Chicago, Ill, which company was appointed consulting engineer, for a 2-span bridge, one span over the existing channel, and the other to be over a 300 ft. channel to be provided in the future. The first work being done includes the removal of the old bridge and the construction of the substructure for the new one. The contract for this work was given [to] Canadian Engineering & Contracting Co., Hamilton, and tenders were received to Jan. 11.

The truss bridge which is to be replaced was built in 1896, and was equipped in 1897 with automatic gates to regulate late traffic. Its first cost was $41,690, and maintenance expenses have been high. It was a swing bridge, operated by electric power, and counterbalanced on both sides of the pivotal point to compensate for unequal length and weight. It was very close to the G.T.R. bridge across the channel, and on the Burlington Bay side of it. The new bridge will occupy almost the same site as the one to be replaced, the difference being that the center line of the new bridge will be 10 ft. east (nearer Lake Ontario) than the center of the preceding one.

For the present, construction will be confined to a trunnion bascule type bridge to span the present channel, which is 130 ft. 7 in. wide. Provision is also made in the design for a second leaf, to span a proposed new 300 ft. channel alongside the present one. In the event of the additional channel being provided and the second portion of the bridge being built to span it, a new central rest pier, in addition to the main and counterbalance piers of the second portion, would be necessary.

From the center of the main trunnion pier, of the bridge now to be built, to the center of the rest pier, which will support the free end, is 160 1/2 ft., and from the center of the main trunnion pier to the center of the counterweight trunnion pier is 40 ft. The old bridge had a clearance of but 4 ft. above the channel, but the new bridge will have a clearance of 10 ft., which will obviate the necessity of opening it so frequently for the passage of small craft. The approaches will be on a gradient of 3%, and the floor level will be 8 ft. higher than that previously existing.

The new bridge will, like the one to be replaced, carry the single track 1ine of the Hamilton Radial Ry., running from Hamilton to Oakville. In addition, there will be a roadway for vehicular traffic, laid with wood blocks, creosoted. On each side of the bridge, outside the trusses, which are 25 1/2 ft. center to center, will be a 6 ft. sidewalk, of 2×4 in. planking, not creosoted, protected by outside railing of pipe construction.

Work was begun on the new bridge early in Dec. 1920, the use of the old bridge being discontinued on Dec. 6. The old bridge has been taken down, and the piers have been removed to the extent necessary to permit construction of the new ones, excavation for which is in progress.This work, as stated above, is being done by the Canadian Engineering & Contracting Co., of Hamilton, which also removed the old bridge, and is to be finished by the first week of July. The superstructure contract has not yet been awarded. The Hamilton Radial Railway cars now run to the bridge from both directions, the passengers walking across the adjoining G.T.R. bridge, on a sidewalk specially built for that purpose.

The Public Works Department is represented in this work by J. M. Wilson, District Engineer, and W. C. Brough, Senior Assistant, Toronto.

Railways: G.T.Ry., H.Rad.E.Ry.

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