Take A Walk On Cornwall’s Historic Bridge
July 8, 2014Cornwall, Ontario – Grab a unique perspective of Cornwall and become part of the City’s heritage at the same time by taking a walk on Cornwall’s historic and iconic bridge.
On Tuesday, July 8th, from 2:00- 8:00 pm, people will have one last chance to make the 1.6 km hike from Cornwall to Cornwall Island. Don’t forget to bring your camera! With a clearance of 36.5m above the old canal to accommodate tall ships, the view of the city and the new completed bridge will be picturesque.
The Seaway International Bridge Corp. and the Federal Bridge Corp. have collaborated to open the bridge one last time for pedestrians. The bridge is scheduled for demolition this summer as it has been replaced with a new low-level bridge.
Along with the walk, there will be pictures of the construction of the bridge as well as many artifacts on display for the public to examine. You will have the chance to ask questions and possibly meet some of the people who were involved in the construction of the bridge.
Built in 1962, the $8.5 million bridge initially charged $1.00 per car and driver, $0.10 per passenger, $0.25 per motorcycle and $0.10 per pedestrian. Fees were high to cover the enormous amounts of materials used to build the 8.5m wide and 1600m long passage to Akwesasne.
7,300 tons of concrete was used to construct the deck of the bridge as well as another 34,000 tons to form the piers. In addition to the concrete, 5,700 tons of steel and hundreds of thousands rivets and bolts were used to fabricate the structure of the bridge.
32,000 gallons of paint were used in order to protect the bridge against rain, salt, ice and snow. There was enough paint used to completely cover 266 football fields.
In its 52 year lifespan, the bridge has safely crossed 3,946,658 trucks as well as an enormous 78,228,480 cars, an impressive number for a city nearing a population of 46,000 people.
The Seaway International Bridge Corp. and the Federal Bridge Corp. Ltd. have made arrangements for anyone who uses mobility aids. The rain date for the event is scheduled for July 9th from 2:00-8:00 pm.
Be sure not to miss the final chance at walking Cornwall’s iconic bridge.
For more information, including photos of the work in progress, please check out this website:
About the Seaway International Bridge
Plans for the construction of the Seaway International Bridge were initiated in 1957 and consisted in building an international toll bridge system between the City of Cornwall and Akwesasne in Ontario and Massena, New York with the South Channel Bridge (1958) located on the US side of Cornwall Island and the North Channel Bridge (1962) located on the Canadian side.
Today, the Seaway International Bridge is one of three Canada-USA border crossings in Eastern Ontario and handles over 120,000 commercial and 2,300,000 passenger transits annually.
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