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The Welland Canal - bridge 13, or as more commonly known locally, the Welland Main Street bridge is a vertical lift bridge located in the heart of downtown Welland, Ontario. The bridge crosses an abandoned portion of the Welland Canal known as the Welland Recreational Waterway. == Previous bridges at this site == The channel passing under this bridge is the fourth Welland Canal. A bridge has existed at this location ever since the first canal was constructed. The bridge is the location of a major historical intersection in the original roads of the Niagara Peninsula. As well as being important to local traffic in Welland, the bridge also links East Main Street (leading towards Niagara Falls) and West Main Street (providing access to roads leading along the Welland River to Wainfleet and Wellandport. It also provides a link between Niagara Street (formerly known as North Main Street leading to Thorold and St. Catharines, and King Street (formerly South Main Street, and also Canal Street), formerly leading to the Canada Southern Railway station, and on to Port Colborne. The ''Chippawa Road'' (as Main Street was then known) crossed the First Welland Canal (constructed between 1824 and 1829) via a wooden swing bridge with the pivot set to one side of the canal. This was turned manually by pushing on heavy wooden beams extending from the end of the bridge. The bridge over the Second Welland Canal (constructed 1840 to 1845) is recorded in at least one image (shown at left), which has been seen in several books, in the Welland Library and on a post card. This was a swing bridge of a design common to other locations on the second canal. It can be seen from the picture that the pivot was to the west of the canal. These bridges were painted white and operated manually. The Third Welland Canal was constructed between 1871 and 1881 and located slightly west of the second. The bridge over this canal was constructed one block south of Main Street at Division Street. This situation severed the primary commercial artery and caused hardship for local business. In winter when the canal was closed, a floating plank bridge, just 1.2m (4 feet) wide allowed pedestrian access across the canal at Main Street, but significant pressure was placed on officials to build a permanent bridge at this location. Eventually, a bridge known as the Alexandra Bridge was built at Main Street in 1903. This Bridge is well documented at the Welland Public Library Local History Site. In 1927, this bridge was moved one block south to Division Street to make room for construction of the current Bridge 13.〔(【引用サイトリンク】Welland Public Library - Bridges Picture File )〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Welland Canal, bridge 13」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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