Little Current Swing Bridge
| Little Current Swing Bridge | |
|---|---|
The single lane of the Little Current Swing Bridge.
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| Coordinates | 45°58′49″N 81°54′50″W / 45.98028°N 81.91389°WCoordinates: 45°58′49″N 81°54′50″W / 45.98028°N 81.91389°W |
| Carries | Highway 6 |
| Crosses | North Channel (Lake Huron) |
| Locale | Little Current, Ontario |
| Maintained by | Ontario Ministry of Transportation |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | swing bridge |
| History | |
| Opened | 1913 |
The Little Current Swing Bridge is a swing bridge in the Canadian province of Ontario, located at the community of Little Current in the town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands.
The bridge carries Highway 6 (formerly Highway 68) across a narrow channel separating Manitoulin Island from the much smaller Goat Island, forming the only land access. It consists of two 21 m (70 ft) deck plate girder approaches on the north end (Goat Island) and a single 18 m (60 ft) deck plate girder approach on the south end (Manitoulin Island), with a 112 m (368 ft) through swing bridge span. The swing bridge sits 5.3 m (17.5 ft) above mean water level, and provides a 48 m (160 ft) opening on either side of the central pier for water passage.
Construction of the bridge was started by the Algoma Eastern Railway with the abutments and piers being built in 1912 and the bridge structure being erected in 1913. The Algoma Eastern Railway began operating trains across the bridge to the community of Little Current in October 1913. The Algoma Eastern Railway was leased by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) in March 1930 and control of the bridge passed at this time to the CPR.
Due to navigable waters protection legislation, the CPR policy was to leave the bridge's swing span in the open position at all times for marine traffic, except when a train needed to cross.
In 1946, the CPR and the provincial Ministry of Transportation came to an agreement that saw the bridge modified to permit road vehicle traffic in addition to rail traffic. As a result, operation of the swing span saw the span left in the closed position to permit both rail and road vehicle traffic to cross, although a CPR employee was stationed at the bridge to open the swing span should it be required for marine traffic.
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