Allanburg is the capital of the City of Thorold,

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. It is located on the

Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller, Ontario, Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lak ...

and Highway 20, both important transportation routes through the

Niagara Peninsula The Niagara Peninsula is an area of land lying between the southwestern shore of Lake Ontario and the northeastern shore of Lake Erie, in Ontario, Canada. Technically an isthmus rather than a peninsula, it stretches from the Niagara River in the ...

. The two cross at a

vertical-lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swi ...

, numbered as Bridge 11 by the

Saint Lawrence Seaway The St. Lawrence Seaway () is a system of rivers, locks, canals and channels in Eastern Canada and Northern United States that permits oceangoing vessels to travel from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes of North America, as far inland ...

Authority, but often known simply as the Allanburg Bridge. The collision of the ship '' Windoc'' with the bridge made national news in 2001.

Inception of the Welland Canal

The original sod-turning ceremony for the construction of the

First Welland Canal The Welland Canal has gone through many incarnations in its history. Today, five distinct canal-construction efforts are recognized. The retronym First Welland Canal is applied to the original canal, constructed from 1824 to 1829 and 1831 to 183 ...

took place in the area on November 30, 1824. Today, a cairn at the west approach to the lift bridge commemorates the event.

''Windoc'' incident

At approximately 20:54 on August 11, 2001, the bulk carrier vessel ''Windoc'' struck the descending Allanburg lift bridge. The ship's wheelhouse and

funnel A funnel is a tube or pipe that is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom, used for guiding liquid or powder into a small opening. Funnels are usually made of stainless steel, aluminium, glass, or plastic. The material used in its constructi ...

were ripped off in the collision, starting a fire on board. Uncontrollable, the vessel drifted downstream and ran aground from the bridge.

Fire fighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

units from throughout Niagara Region were involved in the efforts to put out the fire, parking the

fire trucks A fire engine or fire truck (also spelled firetruck) is a vehicle, usually a specially designed or modified truck, that functions as a firefighting apparatus. The primary purposes of a fire engine include transporting firefighters and water to ...

on the canal's banks. There was no loss of life. The

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and third officer were able to escape the wheelhouse before its destruction. The wheelsman remained in the wheelhouse and survived the collision by lying on the deck until the bridge span passed overhead. The canal reopened to shipping two days later, but the bridge remained locked in a raised position while engineers studied and repaired the structure. Road traffic through central Niagara was left in considerable chaos, as the number of canal crossings is limited. Detours were set up to travel through the Thorold Tunnel north of Allanburg. Eventually, the damage to the bridge was found to be minor and repaired. ''Windoc'' has sat in the port of

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ever since, inoperable and its bilges flooded. Later, an investigation found that the impaired bridge operator lowered the bridge before the ship had cleared the span.

References

External links

Thorold official site
{{RegionalNiagara Neighbourhoods in Thorold

Inception of the Welland Canal

''Windoc'' incident

See also

References

External links