The Victoria Bridge (), previously known as Victoria Jubilee Bridge, is a bridge over the

St. Lawrence River The St. Lawrence River (, ) is a large international river in the middle latitudes of North America connecting the Great Lakes to the North Atlantic Ocean. Its waters flow in a northeasterly direction from Lake Ontario to the Gulf of St. Lawren ...

, linking

Montreal Montreal is the List of towns in Quebec, largest city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Quebec, the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-largest in Canada, and the List of North American cit ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, to the south shore city of Saint-Lambert. Opened in 1859, originally as a

tubular bridge A tubular bridge is a bridge built as a rigid box girder section within which the traffic is carried. Famous examples include the original Britannia Bridge over the Menai Strait, the Conwy railway bridge over the River Conwy, designed and tested b ...

Robert Stephenson Robert Stephenson , (honoris causa, Hon. causa) (16 October 1803 – 12 October 1859) was an English civil engineer and designer of locomotives. The only son of George Stephenson, the "Father of Railways", he built on the achievements of hi ...

, the bridge was the first to span the

, and as such is an important historic bridge in

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 remains in use to this day, carrying both road and rail traffic, with rails in the middle and roadways (part of Route 112) on both sides. It is actively used by the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

on its Halifax to Montreal main line. It is a major contributor to Montreal's role as a continental hub in the

North America North America is a continent in the Northern Hemisphere, Northern and Western Hemisphere, Western hemispheres. North America is bordered to the north by the Arctic Ocean, to the east by the Atlantic Ocean, to the southeast by South Ameri ...

n rail system. Its designation for the Canadian National Railway (CNR commonly known as CN) is Mile 71.40 Subdivision St-Hyacinthe. Originally named the Great Victoria Bridge in honour of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

, it was officially rededicated as the Victoria Jubilee Bridge following renovations in 1897. It was returned to the name Victoria Bridge () in 1978. The bridge is approximately long, and includes 24 ice-breaking piers.

History

The Victoria Bridge was erected between 1854 and 1859. Prior to the construction of the bridge, it was difficult and at times impossible to cross the St. Lawrence River during the long

winter Winter is the coldest and darkest season of the year in temperate and polar climates. It occurs after autumn and before spring. The tilt of Earth's axis causes seasons; winter occurs when a hemisphere is oriented away from the Sun. Dif ...

season, as freezing and thawing in the fall and spring made for treacherous conditions. Crossings took place by boat during the

summer Summer or summertime is the hottest and brightest of the four temperate seasons, occurring after spring and before autumn. At or centred on the summer solstice, daylight hours are the longest and darkness hours are the shortest, with day ...

, and by walking or riding a sleigh or cart over the frozen river in winter, along routes cleared of snow to facilitate passage. A site for the bridge was selected by the Canadian engineer Thomas Keefer. The structure was designed by

(son of

George Stephenson George Stephenson (9 June 1781 – 12 August 1848) was an English civil engineer and Mechanical engineering, mechanical engineer during the Industrial Revolution. Renowned as the "Father of Railways", Stephenson was considered by the Victoria ...

and the builder of the famed ''Rocket'' locomotive), and Alexander McKenzie Ross. The chief engineer was James Hodges. The contractors were the English partnership of Peto, Brassey and Betts, who completed the bridge shortly after Stephenson's death in 1859. The original deck was a long structural metal tube (a

) made of prefabricated wrought iron sections made in England and shipped transatlantic. During its peak construction years a total of six steamboats, 72 barges, 3,040 men (of which there were several children between the ages of 8 and 12), 144 horses, and four locomotive engines were required to build it at a cost of $6,600,000. The construction of the bridge was tied directly with that of the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

, a system headquartered in Britain which had been formed in 1852 with the support of the colonial government of the United Province of Canada to connect the

Great Lakes The Great Lakes, also called the Great Lakes of North America, are a series of large interconnected freshwater lakes spanning the Canada–United States border. The five lakes are Lake Superior, Superior, Lake Michigan, Michigan, Lake Huron, H ...

with an ice-free port on the Atlantic Ocean (at

Portland, Maine Portland is the List of municipalities in Maine, most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine and the county seat, seat of Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County. Portland's population was 68,408 at the 2020 census. The Portland metropolit ...

). When completed, it was the longest bridge in the world. The Victoria Bridge was officially inaugurated by Albert Edward, the

Prince of Wales Prince of Wales (, ; ) is a title traditionally given to the male heir apparent to the History of the English monarchy, English, and later, the British throne. The title originated with the Welsh rulers of Kingdom of Gwynedd, Gwynedd who, from ...

on August 25, 1860. The first freight train however had already passed over the bridge on December 12, 1859, and the first passenger train had crossed the bridge five days later on December 17. Queen Victoria had been invited to attend the opening of the bridge, but she declined the invitation and instead sent her eldest son, the Prince of Wales. Due to the needs of increased traffic in 1897–1898, the single-track metal tube from 1860 was replaced by metal

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

es, 66 feet 8 inches wide, carrying a double track, a roadway for an electric tram-line, space for vehicular traffic, and a pavement for pedestrians. The engineers designing the new structure came to the conclusion that the striking stability and condition of the masonry piers would carry the new bridge with but slight alteration. As a result of this conclusion it was decided to erect the new structure around the old bridge, cutting away the latter span by span, so that there was no interruption to the train service. The tube was then demolished. The stone piers from 1860, slightly altered in 1897, still testify to the excellent original engineering. Between October 30, 1909 and October 13, 1956, the

Montreal and Southern Counties Railway The Montreal and Southern Counties Railway Company (often abbreviated M&SCRC or M&SC) was an electric interurban streetcar line that served communities between Montreal and Granby, Quebec, Granby from 1909 until 1956. A second branch served the ...

ran interurban streetcars on the Northern shoulder of the bridge. The line connected Granby and

, with a later branch serving

Longueuil Longueuil () is a city in the province of Quebec, Canada. It is the seat of the Montérégie, Montérégie administrative region and the central city of the urban agglomeration of Longueuil. It sits on the South Shore (Montreal), south shore o ...

. The St. Lambert Diversion around the St. Lambert Locks was added in 1958 as part of the St. Lawrence Seaway project. This secondary bridge over the canal, south of the main bridge, also carries both road and rail, and is used when a ship is passing under the original alignment.

Use

During the morning

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

, from 5:00 am to 9:00 am, both lanes of the Victoria Bridge are used to travel north,Directions are according to traditional Montreal map where downtown (example, rue Sherbrooke) is east-west, with Mont-Royal to the north and the river to the south. "North" on the Victoria bridge is actually south-west. from the residential suburb of Saint-Lambert to the business districts of Montreal. In the evening, from 3:00 pm to 7:15 pm, both lanes are used in the opposite direction. At all other times, there is one lane available in each direction. The only bus route allowed on the bridge is a special bus from the

Réseau de transport de Longueuil Réseau de transport de Longueuil (, RTL; ) is a public transit system in the city of Longueuil, Quebec, Canada, and nearby communities on the South Shore of Montreal. The RTL had an annual ridership of 34,447,686 in 2013. History RTL was offic ...

, bus number 55. The line is served by Classic Buses due to weight restrictions on the bridge (57 customers if it is a classic one and 38 if it is a low-floor type bus). All other heavy vehicles are forbidden from accessing the bridge and must detour either via the neighbouring Champlain or Jacques-Cartier bridges. The low clearance on both approaches and the narrow lanes on the bridge itself make the bridge virtually inaccessible even to light trucks.

Notes

References

* * *

External links

The Victoria Bridge
- Virtual Exhibit (requires Flash plugin) * *
''Victoria Bridge: The 8th Wonder'' — a National Film Board of Canada short
* Robert W. Passfield
Construction of the Victoria Tubular Bridge
Canal History and Technology Proceedings 2001. {{Urban agglomeration of Longueuil Bridges completed in 1859 Bridges over the Saint Lawrence River Bridges in Montreal Buildings and structures in Saint-Lambert, Quebec Canadian National Railway bridges in Canada Grand Trunk Railway Le Sud-Ouest Railway bridges in Quebec Road-rail bridges in Canada Road bridges in Quebec Roads with a reversible lane Transport in Saint-Lambert, Quebec Tubular bridges Vertical lift bridges in Canada

History

Use

See also

Notes

References

External links