The Sir Isaac Brock Bridge is a steel

Warren truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central C ...

, Canada. It lies along Bathurst Street over the railway tracks between Front Street and Fort York Boulevard. The bridge carries four lanes for motor vehicles with the centre lanes containing the

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

tracks of the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...

511 Bathurst The 511 Bathurst is a Toronto streetcar route operated by the Toronto Transit Commission in Ontario, Canada. Route The 511 Bathurst operates between Bathurst station and Exhibition Loop north–south along Bathurst Street in mixed traffic, ...

streetcar route. The Bridge was formerly named The ''Bathurst Street Bridge'' before changing names and being named after

Isaac Brock Major-General Sir Isaac Brock KB (6 October 1769 – 13 October 1812) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator from Guernsey. Brock was assigned to Lower Canada in 1802. Despite facing desertions and near-mutinies, he c ...

. The steel truss bridge was built in 1903 and used for the Great Western Railway over the Humber River (northside of then Lakeshore Road at mouth of the river). It was dis-assembled and re-located in 1916 to Bathurst Street and converted for road traffic. The bridge served to connect Bathurst Street at Front Street to

Fort York Fort York (french: Fort-York) is an early 19th-century military fortification in the Fort York neighbourhood of Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The fort was used to house members of the British and Canadian militaries, and to defend the entrance of t ...

. In 1931, the bridge was moved and re-aligned (Bathurst Street was at an angle south of Front Street) to support streetcar service south of the railway tracks at that location. A new bridge south of the bridge was constructed to connect the south end of the bridge, connecting Bathurst to Fleet Street. Fort York lost its road access in the change, and a footbridge to the east entrance was constructed. The Tywn River Drive Bridge,

Queen Street Viaduct The Queen Street Viaduct (usually known as the Queen Street Bridge) in Toronto, Canada carries vehicles and Toronto Transit Commission streetcars along Queen Street East and across the Don River. It is an example of a Pratt truss. History The ...

, and the

Old Eastern Avenue Bridge The Old Eastern Avenue Bridge (also known erroneously as the King Street Bridge) consists of two bridges spanning the Don River in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The north bridge or ''Gas Line Bridge'' is a concrete arch bridge built for Consumer's Gas ...

are other examples of steel bridges in Toronto.

Lawrence Avenue Bridge Lawrence may refer to: Education Colleges and universities * Lawrence Technological University, a university in Southfield, Michigan, United States * Lawrence University, a liberal arts university in Appleton, Wisconsin, United States Preparator ...

was a truss bridge that took traffic over Don River, but it was replaced by the current overpass over the Don River and

Don Valley Parkway The Don Valley Parkway (DVP) is a municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, which connects the Gardiner Expressway in downtown Toronto with Highway 401. North of Highway 401, it continues as Highway 404. The parkway ru ...

in the 1960s. In 2007, the bridge was given the official name of the "Sir Isaac Brock Bridge" by the City of Toronto. This was done at the instigation of the "Friends of Fort York" organization. The bridge is owned by Metrolinx, which owns the railway tracks below. It was formerly owned by the Canadian National Railway. From May until late-December 2020, the bridge was closed for rehabilitation work. Crews made steel and concrete repairs to the road-carrying spans and the exposed steel, replaced TTC streetcar tracks and overhead wiring, and constructed a new concrete parapet wall along the curb for improved safety.

References

{{Coord, 43.640357, N, 79.40127, W, region:CA-ON_type:landmark, display=title Brock Bridges completed in 1903 Road bridges in Ontario