tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post5636980373511495823..comments2024-03-15T21:43:52.652-05:00Comments on City in the Trees: Wiley Bowstring bridge, Gorewood RoadLone Primatehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15746801663695992138noreply@blogger.comBlogger6125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-41316902648648686652010-08-13T06:33:28.494-05:002010-08-13T06:33:28.494-05:00Oh, yes! And how could I forget the McEwen Bridge ...Oh, yes! And how could I forget the McEwen Bridge over the Humber on Kirby Road, my own dear "discovery" of a few summers ago? :)<br /><br />http://www.flickr.com/photos/loneprimate/2420199890/<br /><br />It wasn't the age of this bridge that closed the route, but a landslide that bisected Kirby Road above the Humber sometime in the 90s. There's some talk in York Region of refurbishing the bridge, much as Toronto and Mississauga did with their shared Middle Road Bridge in the 1980s.Lone Primatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15746801663695992138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-38896275316948569392010-08-13T06:29:43.685-05:002010-08-13T06:29:43.685-05:00Well, I've been told lately there was an archi...Well, I've been told lately there was an architect named Frank Barber, active in the early part of the 20th Century, who was an advocate of the new concrete bowstrings and wound up in a position to start building them. I'm informed that Middle Road Bridge, dating from 1909 (closed in 1972, I think) was one of his: "the first reinforced concrete parabolic bowstring truss bridge constructed in Canada", only the second of its kind in North America and the oldest now that the first, somewhere in Tennessee, was demolished at some point. Apparently Frank Barber was the designer of some of the area's most notable bridges (not all of them bowstrings), many of which are still in service today.<br /><br />From what I've read, bowstring bridges were actually quite distinctive of Ontario in particular: http://bobhulley.blogspot.com/2007_09_01_archive.htmlLone Primatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15746801663695992138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-74072617302290976732010-08-13T04:31:04.890-05:002010-08-13T04:31:04.890-05:00Someone in authority in Toronto sure must have lov...Someone in authority in Toronto sure must have loved concrete bowstring arches!Jim Greyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06941665968757241278noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-20275655901697248012010-08-12T09:21:40.871-05:002010-08-12T09:21:40.871-05:00Humber Bridge Trail, still open to cars: http://ww...Humber Bridge Trail, still open to cars: http://www.flickr.com/photos/loneprimate/2115761484/<br />Pottery Road, still open to cars: http://www.flickr.com/photos/loneprimate/4242996886/<br />Old Don Mills Road (carries cars to a parking lot only): http://www.flickr.com/photos/loneprimate/117023535/<br />Milddle Road Bridge: http://www.flickr.com/photos/loneprimate/4654924062/Lone Primatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15746801663695992138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-82736675627021445912010-08-12T09:12:54.098-05:002010-08-12T09:12:54.098-05:00The real irony here is that there are still quite ...The real irony here is that there are still quite a few bowstring bridges in and around Toronto, and a few are still in use (the one at Pottery Road springs to mind, twinned with a boring box girder bridge since 1977 to make traffic two-way); it's the pony trusses we've been losing. The other three bowstrings I can think of (assuming I'm not being too general with the term) are this one here, Middle Road Bridge, and the old Don Mills Road Bridge... these three are now closed to vehicular traffic, though, where Pottery Road is still in use every day. Ah, another one I know is still open is on Humber Bridge Trail, which used to be part of Major MacKenzie Drive (17th Avenue at the time, I think), but that bridge actually only serves one resident at the moment.<br /><br />I remember seeing that blog before! It must have been on your recommendation at some point a couple of years ago. :)Lone Primatehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/15746801663695992138noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12941086.post-81343791508274044632010-08-12T07:54:17.147-05:002010-08-12T07:54:17.147-05:00Bowstring bridges are very cool and somewhat rare....Bowstring bridges are very cool and somewhat rare. So I'm really pleased to see this one, especially because it seems to be in good shape. For examples of bowstring bridges in the US, type "bowstring" in the search box here: http://bridgehunter.com/search/.<br /><br />Also, the photos of the boarded-up houses reminded me of this outstanding blog: http://56housesleft.wordpress.com/. It is not updated anymore but it tells the story of a neighborhood's destruction -- very interesting stuff.Jim Greyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06941665968757241278noreply@blogger.com