The Westfield Ferry is a
cable ferry in the
Canadian
Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...
province of
New Brunswick
New Brunswick (french: Nouveau-Brunswick, , locally ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is one of the three Maritime provinces and one of the four Atlantic provinces. It is the only province with both English and ...
. The ferry crosses the
Saint John River, linking
Grand Bay–Westfield
Grand Bay-Westfield is a town on the west bank of the Saint John River immediately north of the boundary between Kings County and Saint John County.
Name
The Town's hyphenated name is the product of a series of amalgamations since 1966. The ...
on the west bank to
Hardings Point on the east bank.
The crossing is in length, takes 5 minutes, and free of
toll
Toll may refer to:
Transportation
* Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway
** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use
** Road toll (historic)
The road toll was a historical fee charged to travellers and ...
s. Two ferries operate on the crossing, carrying up to 15 or 18 cars at a time respectively. The service operates with a single ferry 24 hours a day all year, with the second ferry brought into service at busy periods. It is operated by the
New Brunswick Department of Transportation The Ministry (government department), Department of Transportation is a part of the Government of New Brunswick. It is charged with the maintenance of the provincial highway network and the management of the province's automobile fleet.
The depart ...
.
On October 15, 1996, the Westfield Ferry suffered a cable failure whilst the vessel was in mid-river. In high winds and waves, the drifting ferry was carried down river for about two hours, until the ferry was eventually rescued by a
tugboat
A tugboat or tug is a marine vessel that manoeuvres other vessels by pushing or pulling them, with direct contact or a tow line. These boats typically tug ships in circumstances where they cannot or should not move under their own power, su ...
. The
Transportation Safety Board of Canada
The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB, french: Bureau de la sécurité des transports du Canada, BST), officially the Canadian Transportation Accident Investigation and Safety Board (french: link=no, Bureau canadien d'enquête sur les ...
conducted an investigation, and determined that the cable failed due to wear and corrosion of the cable. Concerns were raised about the level of training for the crew, and the lack of provision of an
anchor
An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄγ ...
on the ferry.
See also
*
List of crossings of the Saint John River
The following bridges and ferries cross the Saint John River in the Canadian province of New Brunswick and U.S. state of Maine.
Crossings
See also
*
*
*
References
{{commons category, Bridges over the Saint John River
*
Saint John River ...
References
External links
Ferries information from the New Brunswick Department of TransportationYouTube video of the Westfield Ferry in action
Ferries of New Brunswick
Crossings of the Saint John River (Bay of Fundy)
Cable ferries in Canada
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