Oreilly's Road Bridge

Thanks to Jarek Piórkowski for visiting and photographing this bridge.

News Update

This bridge was recently lowered to a two tonne weight limit due to concerns about the tension hangers of the bridge, according to a Welland Tribune article. Emergency repairs to the bridge are going to be made, and will raise the weight limit up to six tonnes, but still will be down from the previous 15 tonne weight limit present on the bridge. This has brought the future of the bridge into discussion. One option, which is unpleasant, is to tear the bridge down and build a new one. Hopefully the Niagara Region will uphold Ontario's good historic bridge treatment reputation and not select this option. The other options that are more appealing is to restore the existing bridge's substructure to get it back to the 15 tonne weight limit, for a fraction of the cost of a total replacement. Another option is to build a new bridge at a different alignment. If this occurred, the news article mentioned that the truss bridge would likely remain and become a pedestrian crossing. Unlike the the entire United States, Ontario does not seem to have difficulty understanding the concept of leaving the historic bridge standing when a new alignment is selected. States like Michigan or Pennsylvania would most likely demolish the historic structure after a new crossing was built elsewhere. At this time, I would cautiously still say that this magnificent bridge has a bright future.

About This Bridge

This magnificent bridge is a rare example of a pin connected truss bridge in Ontario. The bridge is a Parker truss, which is essentially a Pratt truss with a polygonal top chord. The portal bracing on the bridge is an a-frame design. V-lacing is present on vertical members and on the sway bracing. Modern Armco style railings are present on the bridge, although pole railings also remain on the bridge. Although I believe this bridge originally had pole railings, the actual poles look newer than the rest of the bridge, suggesting they were replaced. The brackets that hold the poles look old, and are probably original. The bridge is nine panels in length. The bridge sits on concrete abutments, which show some signs of minor deterioration but are in otherwise good condition. The deck is wooden with a layer of asphalt on top. The asphalt has worn quite a bit. No plaques have survived on this bridge, which is a common trait shared among both truss bridges in Michigan and Ontario. The bridge is posted at a 4.1 meter vertical clearance. The structure appears to be in decent condition, despite a lack of paint and a presence of rust on the bridge. A major modification was made to this bridge when some of the diagonal members were replaced with steel cables. Needless to say, this modification affected the historic integrity of the bridge. On the other hand, the aesthetic qualities this bridge enjoys were not affected much. This bridge remains today both as a bridge open to traffic and as a beautiful structure. It would be great to see this bridge sandblasted and painted, as it would help preserve the structure for many years to come.