Cherry Street Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge

Cherry Street Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge
The Cherry Street Bascule Bridge
Carries	vehicluar and pedestrian
Crosses	Toronto Harbour Shipping Channel
Locale	Toronto
Other name(s)	Cherry Street Bridge
Owner	Ports Toronto
Maintained by	Ports Toronto
Heritage status
Ontario Heritage Act
Type	listed
Designated	February 25, 1992
Characteristics
Design	Bascule
Material	Steel
Total length	120 metres
Width	20m
Height	> 48 metres
Longest span	40 metres
Clearance above	48 metres
Clearance below	Toronto Harbour Ship Channel
History
Architect	Joseph Strauss
Designer	Joseph Strauss
Engineering design by	Joseph Strauss
Constructed by	Dominion Bridge Company
Fabrication by	Dominion Bridge Company
Construction end	1930
Construction cost	CA$500,000
Inaugurated	1930
Opened	1930

The Cherry Street Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge is a bascule bridge and Warren truss in Toronto, Ontario, Canada.^[1] Located in the industrial Port Lands area, it carries Cherry Street over the Toronto Harbour Ship Channel and opens to allow ships to access the channel and the turning basin beyond. There are two bascule bridges on Cherry Street. The other, smaller bridge, crosses the Keating Channel, while this bridge crosses the Ship Channel.

The bridge was built in 1930 ^[1] by the company of Joseph Strauss and the Dominion Bridge Company. The north side of the bridge has 750-ton concrete counterweights that allow the bridge to pivot to open. The bridge uses 500 tons of steel in its construction.^[2] The bridge is designed to carry two lanes of traffic. It cost CA$500,000 ($7.73 million in 2016 dollars)^[3] to build.^[2] It was officially opened on June 29, 1931 by Toronto Mayor William Stewart.^[2] The bridge was listed under the Ontario Heritage Act by the City of Toronto in 1992 as architecturally historical.^[4]

The city spent CA$2.5 million to refurbish the bridge in 2007.^[5] The Toronto Port Authority made further repairs on the bridge from December 2012 to September 2013 at a cost of CA$2 million.^[6]

See also

• Cherry Street lift bridge
• List of bascule bridges

References

1. Kuitenbrouwer, Peter (September 13, 2013). "After nine months of repairs this Toronto bridge is finally open for business again, sort of". National Post. Retrieved September 15, 2013.
2. Toronto Harbour Commission Public Affairs Department 1985, p. 51.
3. Canadian inflation numbers based on Statistics Canada. "Consumer Price Index, historical summary". CANSIM, table (for fee) 326-0021 and Catalogue nos. 62-001-X, 62-010-X and 62-557-X. And Consumer Price Index, by province (monthly) (Canada) Last modified 2016-01-22. Retrieved March 2, 2016
4. "Cherry St". Toronto Heritage Properties Inventory. City of Toronto. Retrieved 2009-02-16.
5. "That Old Blue Bridge". Unknown Victoria. 2009-08-27. Retrieved 2012-03-26. Steel bridges, especially ones with intricate latticework like ours, contain thousands of difficult-to-reach joints, often hiding corrosion that’s accelerated by salty air. Repairing and repainting such bridges is an ongoing headache, especially compared to ones made of concrete. Nevertheless, some places re-invest in their old steel bridges. Toronto refurbished its Cherry Street Bridge for $2.6 million in 2007, and recently Boston and San Francisco spent tens of millions renovating their Strauss drawbridges as well.
6. Kuitenbrouwer, Peter (September 13, 2013). "After nine months of repairs this Toronto bridge is finally open for business again, sort of". National Post.

Bibliography

• Filey, Mike (1998). Discover & explore Toronto's waterfront: a walker's, jogger's, cyclist's, boater's guide to Toronto's lakeside sites and history. Dundurn Press. ISBN 978-1-55002-304-6. OCLC 39678576.
• Toronto Harbour Commission Public Affairs Department (1985). Toronto Harbour – The Passing Years. Toronto, Ontario: Toronto Harbour Commissioners.

Coordinates: 43°38′29″N 79°20′56″W / 43.641302°N 79.349023°W