Burlington Canal Lift Bridge

History of the bridge

The bridge spans the Burlington Canal, which opened in 1826. The canal connected the Hamilton Harbour industrial region to international trade and commerce. It was built as part of a series of waterway projects dating back 200 years, with the goal of providing navigation from Lake Erie to the Atlantic Ocean. Today, the Burlington Canal remains a busy waterway and is vital to the area’s commerce.

Since 1830, there have been 5 different moveable bridges located at this site. The present bridge was opened in 1962. It carries 2 lanes of vehicular traffic across the canal. This structure originally had tracks for the Hamilton Northwestern Railway. They were removed in 1982 when the roadway was widened to 4 lanes.

Description of the bridge

This structure is a tower-driven, vertical lift and moveable bridge.

The lift span:

• is 116 metres long
• weighs 1,996 tonnes
• has a vertical lift of 33.5 metres
• has a maximum clearance for marine traffic of approximately 36.5 metres at full-lift height (during typical water-level conditions)
• has a clearance of approximately 5 metres when locked in its lowered position (during typical water level conditions), which allows very small pleasure craft, kayaks and canoes to pass easily beneath the bridge

The towers system contains machinery, sheaves and wire ropes that raise the lift span.

Each tower has:

• a 150-horsepower drive motor to supply power to the machinery
• a 150-horsepower motor to synchronize the drive motors

Since its installation, the bridge has been operated in excess of 200,000 times, allowing the passage of over 400,000 vessels. On a yearly basis, the bridge operates approximately 4,000 times, allowing about 6,500 vessels to pass through the canal. This includes more than 1,000 cargo-carrying vessels.

Navigation season

The bridge is operated during the navigation season, which runs from mid-March to late December. During this time, the bridge lifts on demand for all large vessels, and on the hour and half hour for pleasure craft.

To ensure safe passage of recreational and large commercial marine vessels, the bridge must be raised well in advance for safety reasons. A fully loaded large vessel can take in excess of 1.5 kilometres to turn or stop safely. Bridge staff require time to communicate with marine vessels and provide them with ample time to turn or stop.

According to the Canadian Navigable Waters Act, marine traffic cannot be delayed during navigation season. Motorists, cyclists and pedestrians are required to stop while the bridge is being lifted. The duration of a typical lift is 5 to 10 minutes for recreational vessels and 30 to 60 minutes for commercial vessels. At times, during periods of heavier marine traffic with multiple vessels seeking passage, the lift times can extend 15 minutes or more for recreational vessels and 90 minutes or more for commercial vessels.

The navigation season is aligned with that of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

Off-season

Every year the bridge ceases to operate during the winter months from early January to mid-March, aligned with the St. Lawrence Seaway. The off-season allows bridge staff to conduct inspections, as well as carry out maintenance and repairs.

While the bridge does not lift during the off-season, the canal remains open for smaller vessels passing beneath the lift bridge.