Port Robinson is a small community in the southernmost part of Thorold, Ontario, Canada. The community is divided in half by the Welland Canal, as there is no bridge in the immediate vicinity to connect the two halves of the community. In the summer, a small free ferry for pedestrians and cyclists runs across the canal. In the winter, residents must use the bridge on Highway 20, which results in a 13.3km (8.3mi) trip to get to the other side.
Like all the ports on the first Welland Canal, Port Robinson was named after a member of the Family Compact that once ruled Upper Canada, as Ontario was then named. Sir John Beverly Robinson was Attorney General of Upper Canada at the time the first Canal was built, and the port was originally named Port Beverly. The post office dates from 1835 onward.[1]
On August 25, 1974, the 600-foot (180m) ore carrier Steelton, travelling northbound on the canal, struck and destroyed the bridge.
The east tower of the bridge toppled over, while the west tower collapsed in on itself. The bridge span was pushed into the water, severely deformed. The damage to the bridge was estimated as between $15 and $20 million. It was scrapped in its entirety. The removal of the towers from the canal, especially the counterweights (some 300 tons each), necessitated the use of a special heavy-duty floating crane. The canal was closed until September 9 for the repairs.
The Steelton suffered damage to its bow and pilot house, estimated at about $1 million. The repairs were made at Port Colborne, at the southern terminus of the Welland Canal.
There was no loss of life. The bridge master, Albert Beaver, and a watchman on the ship suffered minor injuries.
The ensuing investigation concluded that the ship failed to blow the whistle to signal its approach and the bridge could not be raised in time.
After the accident, rebuilding the bridge or building a tunnel to replace it was considered. In the end, it was concluded that the volume of local vehicular traffic was not sufficient to warrant such an expense. Instead, a passenger ferry service was launched in early 1977. The ferry can transport people and bicycles, but is not big enough for cars, thus forcing residents who want to use a car to take the long route. In 2015, amid debate about discontinuing the ferry, it was estimated that the ferry carries 2000 pedestrians and 6000 touring cyclists per year.[2]
A similar accident occurred at Bridge 11 in Allanburg in 2001. That bridge was lowered onto the passing bulk carrierWindoc, which afterwards caught fire. The ship was a total loss, but no injuries were reported, and Bridge 11 suffered minor damage and was repaired.[3] While repairs were underway, Port Robinson residents wishing to travel by car to other side of the community had to drive even farther than usual to use the Main Street Tunnel in Welland.
Aftermath of Welland Canal Bridge 12 Collision
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Notes
↑ Hamilton, William (1978). The Macmillan Book of Canadian Place Names. Toronto: Macmillan. p.167. ISBN0-7715-9754-1.
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The Welland Canal is a ship canal in Ontario, Canada, and part of the St. Lawrence Seaway and Great Lakes Waterway. The canal traverses the Niagara Peninsula between Port Weller on Lake Ontario, and Port Colborne on Lake Erie, and was erected because the Niagara River—the only natural waterway connecting the lakes—was unnavigable due to Niagara Falls. The Welland Canal enables ships to ascend and descend the Niagara Escarpment, and has followed four different routes since it opened.
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Welland County is a historic county in the Canadian province of Ontario.
The Welland By-pass, completed in 1973, was a massive construction project on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada.
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King's Highway 20, commonly referred to as Highway 20, is a provincially maintained highway in the Canadian province of Ontario. Presently, it is a short 1.9 km (1.2 mi) stub between Highway 58 and Niagara Regional Road 70 in the City of Thorold, but until 1997 it connected Hamilton to Niagara Falls, serving several towns atop the Niagara Escarpment en route.
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The Welland Canal - bridge 13, or as more commonly known locally, the Welland bridge is a vertical lift bridge located in the heart of downtown Welland, Ontario. The bridge crosses an abandoned portion of the Welland Canal known as the Welland Recreational Waterway.
The Niagara, Welland and Lake Erie Railway was a street railway in Welland, Ontario, which operated from 1912 until 1930.
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Bridge 11, also known as the Allanburg Bridge, is a vertical-lift bridge over the Welland Canal within the City of Thorold and community of Allanburg, Ontario, Canada. The location was used for the groundbreaking ceremony for the canal. It was constructed and completed in 1930. The bridge carries Hwy 20 connecting Niagara Falls to Fonthill.
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