Dufferin Street bridges

Last updated
Dufferin Street Truss Bridge/Dufferin Street Overpass
Dufferin bridges 2013.jpg
The Dufferin Street bridges over the Gardiner Expressway and the rail line from the west.
Coordinates 43°38′03″N79°25′31″W / 43.634087°N 79.425402°W / 43.634087; -79.425402
Carries Pedestrians and Vehicular
Crosses Metrolinx/GO Transit rail corridor
Locale Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Maintained by Toronto Transportation Services
Characteristics
Material Steel and Concrete
Total length30 metres (98 ft) (rail bridge)
35 metres (115 ft) (overpass)
No. of spans2
Clearance above 6.37 metres (20.9 ft) (rail bridge)
History
Construction start1911
1958
Construction end1912 (rail bridge)
1958 (overpass)
Opened1912
1959
Closed2013
Location
Dufferin Street bridges

The Dufferin Street bridges are two inter-connected vehicular bridges in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. The bridges carry Dufferin Street over a railway corridor and the Gardiner Expressway to Exhibition Place. The bridges closed to vehicular traffic in 2013. Temporary structures were built in 2013-2014 to allow a resumption of traffic in early 2014. [1] As of July 2023 the spans over the Gardiner Expressway remain in place, as do the temporary bridges over the northern span.

Contents

North span

The truss bridge is a 30 metres (98 ft) steel truss bridge, built from 1911 to 1912 to cross over railway tracks south of Springhurst Avenue. Four tracks pass under the bridge. A 2013 engineering study determined that the bridge was unsafe and not viable to be repaired. [2] However, in 2014, Bailey bridges were added for pedestrian traffic on the east and west sides, while the inner steel plate box girder bridge for vehicular traffic remains in place.

South span

The south span is a 35 metres (115 ft) concrete overpass built in 1958 after demolition of the old Dufferin Gate to allow for clearance for the Gardiner Expressway below. [3] [4]

Deterioration and replacement

After a report from external inspections conducted in 2007, the city decided to replace both spans with a single span. [4] The report found that:

Temporary north bridges Dufferin St temporary bridge over Lakeshore railway line.JPG
Temporary north bridges

From June 2013 the bridges have been closed to vehicular traffic. In November 2013-early 2014, the north bridge superstructure was replaced by three temporary bridges - two for traffic, and a third for pedestrians. The temporary bridges were opened in 2014 and are still used as of September 11, 2021. [5]

Toronto tried deciding the type of bridge that will span over the tracks, but the decision was canceled as of September 11, 2021. [6] The four types were:

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Viaduct</span> A multiple span bridge crossing an extended lower area

A viaduct is a specific type of bridge that consists of a series of arches, piers or columns supporting a long elevated railway or road. Typically a viaduct connects two points of roughly equal elevation, allowing direct overpass across a wide valley, road, river, or other low-lying terrain features and obstacles. The term viaduct is derived from the Latin via meaning "road", and ducere meaning "to lead". It is a 19th-century derivation from an analogy with ancient Roman aqueducts. Like the Roman aqueducts, many early viaducts comprised a series of arches of roughly equal length.

The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, commonly known as the Gardiner Expressway or simply the Gardiner, is a partially at grade and elevated municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running close to the shore of Lake Ontario, it extends from the foot of the Don Valley Parkway (DVP) in the east, just past the mouth of the Don River, to the junction of Highway 427 and the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) in the west, for a total length of 18.0 kilometres (11.2 mi). East of Dufferin Street to just east of the Don River, the roadway is elevated for a length of 6.8 kilometres (4.2 mi), unofficially making it the longest bridge in Ontario, as it runs above Lake Shore Boulevard east of Spadina Avenue. The Gardiner Expressway is wholly owned and operated by the City of Toronto.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gladesville Bridge</span> Bridge in Sydney, Australia

Gladesville Bridge is a heritage-listed concrete arch road bridge that carries Victoria Road over the Parramatta River, linking the Sydney suburbs of Huntleys Point and Drummoyne, in the local government areas of Canada Bay and Hunter's Hill, in New South Wales, Australia. Despite its name, the bridge is not in Gladesville.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Blue Water Bridge</span> Twin-span bridge between Point Edward, Ontario, Canada and Port Huron, Michigan, US

The Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge across the St. Clair River that links Port Huron, Michigan, United States, and Point Edward, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Water Bridge connects Highway 402 in Ontario with both Interstate 69 (I-69) and Interstate 94 (I-94) in Michigan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cantilever bridge</span> Bridge built using cantilevers

A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end. For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed to handle road or rail traffic use trusses built from structural steel, or box girders built from prestressed concrete.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Credit River</span> River in Canada

The Credit River is a river in southern Ontario, which flows from headwaters above the Niagara Escarpment near Orangeville and Caledon East to empty into Lake Ontario at Port Credit, Mississauga. It drains an area of approximately 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi). The total length of the river and its tributary streams is over 1,500 kilometres (930 mi).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Footbridge</span> Bridge designed solely for pedestrians

A footbridge is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians. While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a height above the ground", a footbridge can also be a lower structure, such as a boardwalk, that enables pedestrians to cross wet, fragile, or marshy land. Bridges range from stepping stones–possibly the earliest man-made structure to "bridge" water–to elaborate steel structures. Another early bridge would have been simply a fallen tree. In some cases a footbridge can be both functional and artistic.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trestle bridge</span> Bridge of short spans supported by rigid frames

A trestle bridge is a bridge composed of a number of short spans supported by closely spaced frames. A trestle is a rigid frame used as a support, historically a tripod used to support a stool or a pair of isosceles triangles joined at their apices by a plank or beam such as the support structure for a trestle table. Each supporting frame is a bent. A trestle differs from a viaduct in that viaducts have towers that support much longer spans and typically have a higher elevation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dufferin Street</span> Roadway in Ontario, Canada

Dufferin Street is a major north–south street in Toronto, Vaughan and King, Ontario, Canada. It is a concession road, two concessions (4 km) west of Yonge Street. The street starts at Exhibition Place, continues north to Toronto's northern boundary at Steeles Avenue with some discontinuities and continues into Vaughan, where it is designated York Regional Road 53. The street is named for Frederick Hamilton-Temple-Blackwood, 1st Marquess of Dufferin and Ava, who served as Governor General of Canada from 1872 to 1878. Prior to 1878 the street was labelled as Western City Limits or Sideline Road south off Bloor. In 2003 and 2007, it was voted as one of "Ontario's Worst 20 Roads" in the Ontario's Worst Roads poll organized by the Canadian Automobile Association.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hogg's Hollow Bridge</span> Set of four highway bridges in Toronto, Ontario

Hoggs Hollow Bridge, originally known as the Yonge Boulevard Viaduct, is a set of four separate highway bridges that span the West Branch of the Don River Valley in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, and carries 14 lanes of Highway 401. The four structures are the busiest multi-span bridge crossing in North America, surpassing the Brooklyn Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cambie Bridge</span> Bridge in Vancouver

The Cambie Bridge is a six-lane, precast, box girder bridge spanning False Creek in Vancouver, British Columbia. The current bridge opened in 1985, but is the third bridge at the same location. Often referred to as the Cambie Street Bridge, it connects Cambie Street on the south shore of False Creek to both Nelson and Smithe Streets in the downtown peninsula. It is the easternmost of False Creek's fixed crossings; the Burrard and Granville bridges are a little more than a kilometre to the west, and the new Canada Line SkyTrain tunnel is built just west of the Cambie Bridge.

Mahatma Gandhi Setu is a bridge over the river Ganges in Bihar, India, connecting Patna in the south to Hajipur in the north. Its length is 5,750 metres (18,860 ft) and it is the third-longest river bridge in India. It was inaugurated in May 1982 in a ceremony in Hajipur by the then prime minister, Indira Gandhi. From 1982 to 2017, Mahatma Gandhi Setu remained as the longest bridge in India. Later, Gandhi Setu rehabilitation project was undertaken to install triangular steel trusses on Mahatma Gandhi Setu.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hampden Bridge, Kangaroo Valley</span> Bridge in New South Wales, Australia

Hampden Bridge is a heritage-listed single-span suspension bridge that carries Moss Vale Road (B73) across the Kangaroo River, in Kangaroo Valley, in the City of Shoalhaven local government area of New South Wales, Australia. The bridge was designed by Ernest de Burgh and built by Loveridge and Hudson. The property is owned by Transport for NSW. It was added to the New South Wales State Heritage Register on 2 August 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Girder bridge</span> Bridge built of girders placed on bridge abutments and foundation piers

A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Krymsky Bridge</span> Steel suspension bridge in Moscow, Russia

Krymsky Bridge is a steel suspension bridge in Moscow. The bridge spans the Moskva River 1,800 metres south-west from the Kremlin and carries the Garden Ring across the river. The bridge links the Zubovsky Boulevard to the north-west with Krymsky Val street to the south-east. The nearby Moscow Metro stations are Park Kultury and Oktyabrskaya.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bahia Honda Rail Bridge</span> Abandoned bridge in the Florida Keys, US

The Bahia Honda Rail Bridge is a derelict railroad bridge in the lower Florida Keys connecting Bahia Honda Key with Spanish Harbor Key. It was originally part of the Overseas Railway, but the state of Florida purchased it from the Florida East Coast Railway (FEC) after the 1935 Labor Day Hurricane and converted it for automobile use as part of the Overseas Highway in 1938. After a replacement Bahia Honda Bridge was opened in 1972, two spans of the old bridge were removed for the safety of boat traffic and to prevent pedestrian access to unsafe parts of the bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moses Wheeler Bridge</span> Bridge in Connecticut, United States

Moses Wheeler Bridge carries Interstate 95 over the Housatonic River between Stratford and the Devon section of Milford. The current bridge is a 14-span continuous girder and floorbeam structure that carries three lanes of traffic in each direction, with full inside and outside shoulders. The current bridge, completed in 2016, replaces a pre-existing structure that was completed as part of the original Connecticut Turnpike in 1958. The original bridge was a 34-span plate girder structure with a concrete deck with three 12-foot travel lanes in each direction and no shoulders. The central span of the original bridge over the river's navigation channel included a pin and hanger assembly, which are no longer used in bridge construction in the United States. Construction on the Moses Wheeler Bridge began in 1955 and opened on January 2, 1958.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Godavari Arch Bridge</span> Bridge in Rajahmundry, India

The Godavari Arch Bridge is a bowstring-girder bridge that spans the Godavari River in Rajahmundry, India. It is the latest of the three bridges that span the Godavari river at Rajahmundry. The Havelock Bridge being the earliest, was built in 1897, and having served its full utility, was decommissioned in 1997. The second bridge known as the Godavari Bridge is a truss bridge and is India's third longest road-cum-rail bridge crossing a water body.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Abetxuko Bridge</span> Bridge in Basque Country, Spain

The Abetxuko Bridge is a steel girder bridge with organic forms in Vitoria-Gasteiz, Álava, Basque Country, Spain.

References

  1. "Deteriorating Dufferin Street bridge to close for 18 months". Citynews.ca. 2013-06-03. Retrieved 2013-11-04.
  2. "Dufferin Bridges: Appendix E: Structural Options Evaluation" (PDF). City of Toronto.[ permanent dead link ]
  3. "A brief history of the Dufferin Gate at the CNE grounds". Blogto.com. 2012-01-28. Retrieved 2013-11-04.
  4. 1 2 "Dufferin Bridges: Municipal Class Environmental Assessment" (PDF). City of Toronto.[ permanent dead link ]
  5. "Dufferin Street Bridge Demolition and Installation of Temporary Crossing" (PDF). gordperks.ca.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. LEA Consulting Ltd. (10 March 2011). "Structural Engineering Evaluation" (PDF). Dufferin Bridge EA Study. City of Toronto. Archived from the original (PDF) on 31 January 2016.