The Chaudière Bridge (French: ''Pont de la Chaudière'') crosses the

Ottawa River The Ottawa River (, ) is a river in the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec. It is named after the Algonquin word "to trade", as it was the major trade route of Eastern Canada at the time. For most of its length, it defines the border betw ...

about west of

Parliament Hill Parliament Hill (), colloquially known as The Hill, is an area of Crown land on the southern bank of the Ottawa River that houses the Parliament of Canada in downtown Ottawa, Ontario. It accommodates a suite of Gothic revival buildings whose ...

, joining the communities of

Gatineau Gatineau ( ; ) is a city in southwestern Quebec, Canada. It is located on the northern bank of the Ottawa River, directly across from Ottawa, Ontario. Gatineau is the largest city in the Outaouais administrative region of Quebec and is also p ...

Quebec Quebec is Canada's List of Canadian provinces and territories by area, largest province by area. Located in Central Canada, the province shares borders with the provinces of Ontario to the west, Newfoundland and Labrador to the northeast, ...

, and

Ottawa Ottawa is the capital city of Canada. It is located in the southern Ontario, southern portion of the province of Ontario, at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the cor ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

, linking Rue Eddy in the

Hull Hull may refer to: Structures * The hull of an armored fighting vehicle, housing the chassis * Fuselage, of an aircraft * Hull (botany), the outer covering of seeds * Hull (watercraft), the body or frame of a sea-going craft * Submarine hull Ma ...

sector of Gatineau and Booth Street in Ottawa. The bridge is one portion of multiple spans constituting the Chaudière Crossing, which still contain portions of the first bridge linking Ottawa with Hull dating back to the time of Colonel By in the 1820s. The bridge passes through the E.B. Eddy Company complex adjacent to the

Chaudière Falls The Chaudière Falls (), also known as the Kana:tso or Akikodjiwan Falls, are a set of cascades and waterfall in the centre of the Ottawa-Gatineau National Capital Region (Canada), metropolitan area in Canada where the Ottawa River narrows betw ...

, from which the bridge gets its name.

Union Bridge

The Chaudière Bridge's earliest predecessor, the 8 span "Union Bridge" was completed under Colonel By's direction in September 1828; the first bridge to link the two young towns. (Its first span, completed January 11, 1827, had been their second attempt at that site, for the first one had collapsed the previous November.) While the main span was a wooden

arch An arch is a curved vertical structure spanning an open space underneath it. Arches may support the load above them, or they may perform a purely decorative role. As a decorative element, the arch dates back to the 4th millennium BC, but stru ...

masonry Masonry is the craft of building a structure with brick, stone, or similar material, including mortar plastering which are often laid in, bound, and pasted together by mortar (masonry), mortar. The term ''masonry'' can also refer to the buildin ...

arches were also used for the smaller spans.

Thomas McKay Thomas McKay (1 September 1792 – 9 October 1855) was a Canadian businessman who was one of the founders of the city of Ottawa, Ontario. Biography McKay was born in Perth, Scotland and became a skilled stonemason. He emigrated to the Cana ...

had been given contracts to construct two of its stone arches.. One of Thomas Burrowes' first assignments during the construction of the

Rideau Canal The Rideau Canal is a 202-kilometre long canal that links the Ottawa River at Ottawa with the Cataraqui River and Lake Ontario at Kingston, Ontario, Canada. Its 46 Lock (water navigation), locks raise boats from the Ottawa River 83 metres (272 ...

was to help plan and construct the Union Bridge. The bridge had been needed during the construction of the Rideau Canal because Colonel By's initial base of operations was initially in Wright's Town (Hull). The bridge received its name to "symbolize the joining of the Provinces of Upper Canada and Lower Canada". The

wood Wood is a structural tissue/material found as xylem in the stems and roots of trees and other woody plants. It is an organic materiala natural composite of cellulosic fibers that are strong in tension and embedded in a matrix of lignin t ...

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

which spanned the

collapsed on May 18, 1836. A

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

service was temporarily used until a new bridge was opened in 1843. Over the years, the main span had to be replaced several times, however much of the original (1827–1828) spans remained in place. The changes that follow refer mostly to the replacement of the main span. The Union Suspension Bridge, opened on September 17, 1843 (possibly September 17, 1844), was a

iron Iron is a chemical element; it has symbol Fe () and atomic number 26. It is a metal that belongs to the first transition series and group 8 of the periodic table. It is, by mass, the most common element on Earth, forming much of Earth's o ...

bridge built by Alexander Christie, and designed by Samuel Keefer until 1889 when it was again rebuilt using

steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

construction. The current steel bridge was built by the

Dominion Bridge Company The Dominion Bridge Company, Limited was a Canadian steel bridge constructor originally based in Lachine, Quebec. From the core business of steel bridge component fabrication, the company diversified into related areas such as the fabrication of ...

in 1919.

Deteriorated condition

Several of the masonry arches dating from 1828 are still in use, just to the north of the current steel bridge. On December 3, 2008,

Public Works and Government Services Canada Public Services and Procurement Canada (PSPC; ),''Public Services and Procurement Canada'' is the applied title under the Federal Identity Program; the legal title is Department of Public Works and Government Services (). formerly Public Works ...

closed the bridge for vehicular and pedestrian traffic after an inspection revealed deterioration in the masonry arches. It was closed immediately in both directions "until further notice." The closure affected commuting across the Ottawa River, including

OC Transpo OC Transpo is the primary Transit district, public transport agency for the city of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, operating bus rapid transit, light rail, conventional transit bus, bus routes, and door-to-door paratransit in the nation's capital regi ...

bus routes which run across the bridge and stop in front of the government offices at

Terrasses de la Chaudière The Terrasses de la Chaudière () is a complex of government office buildings in Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. The complex was built in 1978 as part of Prime Minister Pierre Trudeau's initiative to see more federal workers based in the Quebec side of ...

. The bridge was partially re-opened one week later with weight restrictions and a reduced speed limit. The bridge work went under review by the federal government and a decision to repair the bridge spans was made. Consultants used computer-simulations to model the stress and the condition of the arches. Ottawa historian John Taylor had proposed that the government use the opportunity to open up the area to views of the Falls. In May 2009 the bridge was reopened after repairs to the concrete spans.

2019 flood closure

In late April 2019, authorities announced that the bridge would be closed due to concerns over rising water level caused by the 2019 flood.

Gallery

References

External links