The Clarence Street Bridge (also known as Bridge 21) is 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 swin ...

located in

Port Colborne, Ontario Port Colborne is a city in Ontario, Canada that is located on Lake Erie, at the southern end of the Welland Canal, in the Niagara Region of Southern Ontario. The original settlement, known as Gravelly Bay, dates from 1832 and was renamed after S ...

. Built between 1927–1929 during 4th

Welland Canal The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, connecting Lake Ontario and Lake Erie. It forms a key section of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. Traversing the Niagara Peninsula from Port Weller in St. Catharines t ...

Construction, the bridge still serves today as a vital link connecting East and West Port Colborne. The structure uses simple electric motors and counterweights to raise the deck 36.5 meters (120ft.) above passing vessels. The raising and lowering of the bridge takes approximately 90 seconds. The western bridge approach, over former canal locks 26 and 27, was added when Bridge 21 was constructed, making these locks inoperable. This bridge is one of only four remaining vertical-lift road bridges over the Welland Canal. Another vertical-lift bridge (known as Bridge 20) stood just north of Bridge 21; it was also built in 1927–1929 by the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

. In the mid-1990s, the

Port Colborne Harbour Railway The Port Colborne Harbour Railway , formed in 1997, serves various industries in the Port Colborne area and along the New Welland Canal. The principal commodities transported are wheat, scrap, woodpulp, bauxite, and lumber. The Port Colborne Harb ...

was completed, connecting Port Colborne to rail lines on the western side of the canal, making Bridge 20 unnecessary. It was removed in the winter of 1997.

References

External links

* {{coord, 42.8864, -79.2486, type:landmark_region:CA-ON, display=title Road bridges in Ontario Transport in Port Colborne Vertical lift bridges in Canada Welland Canal