The Henley Bridge is a multi-span open spandrel concrete

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

in St. Catharines,

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. The bridge carries eight lanes of traffic of the

Queen Elizabeth Way The Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario linking Toronto with the Niagara Peninsula and Buffalo, New York. The freeway begins at the Peace Bridge in Fort Erie and travels around the western ...

(QEW) in an east–west direction over Twelve Mile Creek. The bridge was built during the late 1930s and formally opened on August 23, 1940. The structure was designed by the Bridge office of the Department of Highways of Ontario under Chief Bridge Engineer Arthur Sedgewick. The monuments at each end were designed by

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 ...

architect

William Lyon Somerville William Lyon Somerville (August 5, 1886 – April 14, 1965) was a Canadians, Canadian architect practicing in Toronto, Ontario and Southern Ontario, Canada. He was president of the Ontario Association of Architects, and president of the Royal Arch ...

, who also designed the

Queen Elizabeth Way Monument The Queen Elizabeth Way Monument, also known as the Lion Monument and as the Loring Lion, is an Art Deco monument located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The 1939–1940 monument honouring Queen Elizabeth was built as a decorative marker monument f ...

at the then-eastern terminus of the QEW west of the Humber River. Somerville incorporated decorations by sculptors

Frances Loring Frances Norma Loring LL.D. (October 14, 1887– February 5, 1968) was a Canadian sculptor. Career Loring studied in Europe before enrolling at the Art Institute of Chicago, where she studied with Lorado Taft. She was a member of both the Royal C ...

and

Florence Wyle Florence Wyle (November 14, 1881 – January 14, 1968) was an American-Canadian sculptor, designer and poet; a pioneer of the Canadian art scene. She practiced chiefly in Toronto, living and working with her partner Frances Loring, with whom she ...

. Within the median, each entrance to the Henley Bridge incorporates the prow of a galley, variously described as being

Viking Vikings ; non, víkingr is the modern name given to seafaring people originally from Scandinavia (present-day Denmark, Norway and Sweden), who from the late 8th to the late 11th centuries raided, pirated, traded and se ...

Egyptian Egyptian describes something of, from, or related to Egypt. Egyptian or Egyptians may refer to: Nations and ethnic groups * Egyptians, a national group in North Africa ** Egyptian culture, a complex and stable culture with thousands of years of ...

in design, carved in Queenston limestone, with oars and warrior shield in addition to the crest of the British Royal family. Above both prows of the ship are four lions. Each lion has a shield of the other eight Canadian provinces (as Newfoundland was a separate British colony until 1949); the galley was adorned with the coats of arms of each provinces. The bridge is supported by four arches as it passes over the creek valley. There are two stone piers at each end of the bridge: the western piers have reliefs of sailing ships, while the eastern piers have a relief of a native person and a canoe on one side, as well as a Henley rower on the other. The bridge passes to the south of the section of Twelve Mile Creek designated the

Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course The Royal Canadian Henley Rowing Course is a rowing facility that is located in Port Dalhousie, St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The facility was constructed in 1903 as a permanent venue for the Royal Canadian Henley Regatta. The facility is locate ...

, which gives the bridge its name. The central railings were originally more decorative and connected the two prows. Near the bridge is the site of the original dedication of the QEW. King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, on a visit to Canada, visited St. Catharines on June 7, 1939. Their car reached the intersection of Niagara Street where it crossed the QEW construction site. At that point their car broke a beam of light, unveiling signs saying "Queen Elizabeth Way," to officially dedicate the highway. A plaque on the nearby Martindale Road bridge is inscribed with the dedication that the Royal couple "opened" the Henley bridge on June 7, 1939, although the bridge was not yet complete. A crowd of 2,000 attended the official opening of the Henley Bridge on August 23, 1940. As originally designed, the bridge carried two lanes of traffic in each direction. The bridge has since been expanded several times. In 1989-90, new concrete arches were made in an expansion to six lanes. The highway was expanded again in 2007 and now carries a total of four lanes in each direction. The original monument and pier decorations remain, but the rest of the bridge has been extensively rebuilt.

References

External links

* * * {{cite web , website=Youtube , url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MmzwEbn3b1o , title=QEW Henley Bridge - 1941 , first=Stephen , last=Richardson , accessdate=August 24, 2017 1940 establishments in Ontario Bridges completed in 1940 Open-spandrel deck arch bridges in Canada Road bridges in Ontario