Arch Truss & Beam

442 Pages·2014·13.44 MB·English

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LAKE ERIE 2
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LAKE ERIE 2
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3 March 2013

arch Truss & BeaM:
,
The Grand River Watershed Heritage Bridge Inventory
Prepared By
Lindsay Benjamin, Primary Author, Heritage Resources Centre
Dr. Barbara Veale, Contributing Editor, Grand River Conservation Authority
Dr. Robert Shipley, Editor, Heritage Resources Centre
Kayla Jonas Galvin, Editor, Heritage Resources Centre
Melissa Davies, Researcher/Writer, Heritage Resources Centre
Funding Provided By
Government of Ontario
Grand River Conservation Authority
Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation
March 2013
Arch, Truss & Beam: The Grand River Watershed Heritage Bridge Inventory
PReface
Bridges – primarily road but also railway– are important cultural features within the Grand River watershed and
support the national status of the Grand River and its major tributaries as Canadian Heritage Rivers. Some, such as the
timber covered bridge of West Montrose, are unique survivors of once common designs. A few, such as the massive,
nine-span concrete bowstring bridge across the Grand River at Caledonia, are visually arresting in their scale and form.
Yet most of the structures in the watershed are “ordinary” steel or concrete bridges. However, close examination can
reveal that they are anything but ordinary in what they can tell us about the past and present. And many, with steel
trusses or concrete arches rising above the land have an aesthetic quality.
Bridges, like people, have finite lives. Increased traffic loads, salt damage, and freeze/thaw cycles are some of the
common factors affecting bridge life. These events are predictable and the loss of key bridges can be planned for.
This is why an inventory, like this one of the Grand River watershed, is so important. The inventory can highlight
structures before they become a crisis. With pro-active planning it may be possible to reuse the bridge in less strenuous
locations, sympathetically repair rather than replace the bridge, or encourage the design of a new structure to be
of equal visual quality to the one it replaced.
But the inventory is not only for management. For those that have a hankering for old bridges, Arch, Truss & Beam:
The Grand River Watershed Heritage Bridge Inventory is a gazetteer for anyone that wants to explore the area. You can
discover parts of Ontario and the adjoining resources you never knew existed.
Christopher Andreae, PhD
Heritage Resources Centre
acknoWledGemenTs
This inventory was made possible through the guidance, knowledge, expertise and hard work of a number of groups
and individuals, most notably including:
Government of Ontario for generously funding this project.
Grand River Conservation Authority for supporting and funding this work. Special thank you to Dr. Barbara Veale,
Jeff Pitcher and Phil Lenoir.
Grand Strategy Heritage Working Group members, specifically: Dr. Barbara Veale, Warren Stauch, Eva Salter, Pat
Salter, Karen Richardson and Jan Liggett for providing invaluable and intimate knowledge of the cultural heritage
resources found throughout the Grand River watershed.
Grand River Watershed Heritage Bridge Inventory Steering Committee members: Dr. Barbara Veale, Dr. Robert
Shipley, Karla Barboza, Chris Mahood, Bert Duclos, Dr. Chris Andreae and Kayla Jonas Galvin for guiding the proj-
ect’s methodology.
Waterloo Regional Heritage Foundation for their generous support without which the design and printing of this
report would not have been possible.
Lindsay Benjamin for managing, coordinating and publishing this inventory.
Melissa Davies for her invaluable research, photography, and editorial contributions.
Kayla Jonas Galvin for her expertise and editing of this report.
Marg Rowell for her expertise in evaluating cultural heritage resources.
Amy Calder for designing this report.
Toronto and Region Conservation Authority, Humber Watershed Alliance, Heritage Subcommittee for their
guidance and seminal work, Crossing the Humber: The Humber River Heritage Bridge Inventory.
All watershed municipalities and staff members for participating in this inventory and sharing information on the
bridges under their jurisdiction. Such willingness to collaborate ensured the comprehensiveness of this inventory.
Members of the public and local residents who so willing provided information invaluable to the determination
of cultural heritage value of many bridges included in this inventory, including: Pat Mestern, Madelyn Verspagen,
Sharon Anderson, Nathan Holth, Rob Dutton and Sean Young.

Heritage Resources Centre
TaBle of conTenTs

Executive Summary ................................................................................................................................................................... 1
Watershed Map ........................................................................................................................................................................... 2
1.0 Introduction .........................................................................................................................................................................4
1.1 Background ..........................................................................................................................................................4
1.2 Project Goals .......................................................................................................................................................5
1.3 Evolution of Bridge Building in the Grand River Watershed ......................................................................6
2.0 Purpose ................................................................................................................................................................................. 8
2.1 Scope of focus ......................................................................................................................................................9
2.2 Limitations ........................................................................................................................................................... 9
3.0 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................................................10
3.1 Bridge Identification ...........................................................................................................................................10
3.2 Field Inspection ...................................................................................................................................................11
3.3 Archival Research ............................................................................................................................................... 12
3.4 Community Knowledge .....................................................................................................................................12
4.0 Evaluation .............................................................................................................................................................................14
Bridge Summaries ...................................................................................................................................................... 15
Haldiman County (HD) .................................................................................................................................... 15
City of Brantford (BF) ....................................................................................................................................... 33
County of Brant (B) .......................................................................................................................................... 44
Township of Blandford-Blenhiem (BB) ............................................................................................................... 72
Township of Perth East (PE)................................................................................................................................ 94
Township of North Dumfries (ND) ..................................................................................................................... 108
City of Cambridge (C) ........................................................................................................................................112
Township of Wilmot (WT) ................................................................................................................................. 136
City of Kitchener (K) ........................................................................................................................................147
Township of Wellesley (WS) ................................................................................................................................164
Township of Woolwich (WC) ..............................................................................................................................170
City of Guelph (G) .............................................................................................................................................185
Township of Puslinch (PL) ..................................................................................................................................208
Township of Guelph/Eramosa (GE) ..................................................................................................................... 214
Township of Mapleton (ML) ............................................................................................................................... 216
Township of Centre Wellington (CW) ..................................................................................................................246
Town of Erin (E) ................................................................................................................................................300
Township of Wellington North (WN) .................................................................................................................. 302
Township of East Garafraxa (EX) ........................................................................................................................ 320
Town of Grand Valley (GV) ................................................................................................................................ 328
Township of Amaranth (A) .................................................................................................................................336
Township of Melancthon (MC) ........................................................................................................................... 350
5.0 Results ................................................................................................................................................................................... 356
6.0 Future Opportunities ..........................................................................................................................................................361
7.0 Next Steps ............................................................................................................................................................................. 361
8.0 Conclusion ........................................................................................................................................................................... 362
9.0 Bibliography .........................................................................................................................................................................363
Appendices .................................................................................................................................................................................. 365
Appendix A: Heritage bridge maps by municipality ............................................................................................366
Appendix B: Field identification form ....................................................................................................................396
Appendix C: List of non-heritage bridges inventoried ........................................................................................ 368
Appendix D: Designated bridges .............................................................................................................................416
Appendix E: Demolished bridges ............................................................................................................................420
Appendix F: Reconstructed bridges with unique/heritage elements ................................................................ 430
Appendix G: General overview of Ontario bridge types .................................................................................... 431
Appendix H: Excerpt from the Ontario Heritage Act, Sec. 27 and 29, Part IV .............................................. 432
Appendix I: Ontario Regulation 9/06 ..................................................................................................................... 433
Arch, Truss & Beam: The Grand River Watershed Heritage Bridge Inventory
execuTIve summaRy
Bridges are an important component of our human heritage, representing an evolution in building materials
and techniques as well as reflecting the aesthetics of the time. Early bridges help to demonstrate the role of rivers
in the industrial and cultural development of Canada. Bridges in the Grand River watershed act as passageways
through time, providing clues as to how and why local communities and economies developed and evolved.
These remaining heritage bridges should be interpreted, conserved and celebrated as vestiges linking our collective
present to our past.
Heritage bridges represent an endangered species in the 21st century, with many contemporary issues challenging
conservation efforts. Rural bridges are experiencing capacity issues due to the intensification of agricultural
practices and large new machinery. And with urbanization spreading throughout the watershed in the form of new
residential growth and increasing road networks and capacities, heritage bridges are often ill-equipped to compete
with newer construction techniques in terms of ease of approvals, affordability and load capacity. Newer structures are
not built with an emphasis on design, materials and aesthetics as they once were. Restrictive municipal and
provincial budgets have led to an increasing number of utilitarian bridges crossing the watershed’s rivers, resulting
in an ever-increasing loss of the area’s unique cultural heritage identity.
The Grand River Conservation Authority (GRCA), on behalf of watershed municipalities, is the steward of the
Canadian Heritage River designation for the Grand River and its major tributaries and has advocated the need
for a comprehensive inventory of heritage bridges in the watershed for many years. In 2012, the GRCA and the
Heritage Resources Centre at the University of Waterloo formed a partnership to carry out Arch, Truss, Beam:
The Grand River Watershed Heritage Bridge Inventory. The goal of this study was to support the designation of the
Grand River and its four tributaries, identify and encourage the listing or designation of bridges with significant cultural
heritage value under the Ontario Heritage Act, as well as promote the unique character and tourism potential of
structures located in each watershed municipality.
To undertake this inventory, the 39 watershed municipalities (seven upper-tier, 26 lower-tier and six single-tier)
and two First Nations were contacted to obtain information on bridges under their jurisdiction. This resulted
in full municipal cooperation in the study. Various provincial, private and community organizations, as well as
local residents were consulted to gather further background research. Maps were reviewed and site visits carried
out to functional and abandoned bridges, as well as abutments. Each bridge that exhibited potential cultural
heritage value was evaluated using the Ontario Heritage Act’s (OHA), Ontario Regulation 9/06: Criteria for determining
cultural heritage value or interest. Of the 678 bridges inventoried, 167 (25%) were found to have heritage value.
As well, 38 demolished structures were identified that were most likely heritage bridges. Additionally, 13 bridges
formally designated under the OHA were identified. Figure 1 illustrates the inventory’s main findings.
This inventory hopes to contribute to the growing
discourse surrounding heritage conservation in
Ontario, while building on the seminal work
undertaken by the Toronto and Region Conserva-
tion Authority, Crossing the Humber: The Humber
River Heritage Bridge Inventory. This project
represents the adaptation of the bridge inventory
process as a conservation planning tool to meet the
unique context of the Grand River watershed: the
largest inland watershed in southwestern Ontario,
comprised of 6,800 km2. This tool could be further
adapted by other watersheds to elaborate on the
base of knowledge surrounding the conservation
of Ontario’s heritage bridges.
Figure 1. Summary of inventoried bridges in the Grand River watershed.
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Heritage Resources Centre
WaTeRsHed maP
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