My hometown used to have one of those old swing bridges. Sadly, it has sold it's soul to the tourists so the bridge was demolished and a four lane high rise bridge replaced it. I can remember sitting on old bus number 3 waiting for the bridge to close. It was a quieter, better and happier time back then.
An excellent question.... and I have the DEFINITIVE answer: (In other words... all will become crystal clear.) *The bridge was constructed over 100 years ago by the Algoma Railway company to allow for TRAINS to reach Manitoulin Island* . The bridge predates the automobile and was never intended for vehicular traffic of any kind. Period. To create a curved bridge would make train based traffic impossible. Trains cannot cross arched bridges. Since the bridge will be replaced in the near future, I'm HOPING they will develop a new modern swing bridge that allows for 2-way traffic flow and NOT build an arched bridge. To create a fixed arched bridge that sailboats could pass underneath would mean constructing a much larger, much higher, and therefore much longer (as in 3-4x longer) bridge. Think Ambassador Bridge in Windsor/Detroit. It would likely cost far more money to construct something like that than the cost of a modernized swing bridge that has two lane traffic flow. Not to mention the tourist/heritage value of having one of the world's only swing bridges.
![This is the only bridge to a massive island. It's falling apart. [LH]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/os_fYLgiAM8/mqdefault.jpg)
![This is the only bridge to a massive island. It's falling apart. [LH]](/img/tr.png)
My hometown used to have one of those old swing bridges. Sadly, it has sold it's soul to the tourists so the bridge was demolished and a four lane high rise bridge replaced it. I can remember sitting on old bus number 3 waiting for the bridge to close. It was a quieter, better and happier time back then.
This is awesome, I work on one of the swing bridges in South Carolina. This one is huge!
Lovely!
I'm moving there in just a couple months🙂😀 Hope it's worth it!!
Am I gonna see you cus I live there
Why don't they just make it curve more higher? Would be much cheaper than making this kind of things + guy working on that lil cabin 24/7
An excellent question.... and I have the DEFINITIVE answer: (In other words... all will become crystal clear.)
*The bridge was constructed over 100 years ago by the Algoma Railway company to allow for TRAINS to reach Manitoulin Island* . The bridge predates the automobile and was never intended for vehicular traffic of any kind. Period. To create a curved bridge would make train based traffic impossible. Trains cannot cross arched bridges.
Since the bridge will be replaced in the near future, I'm HOPING they will develop a new modern swing bridge that allows for 2-way traffic flow and NOT build an arched bridge. To create a fixed arched bridge that sailboats could pass underneath would mean constructing a much larger, much higher, and therefore much longer (as in 3-4x longer) bridge. Think Ambassador Bridge in Windsor/Detroit. It would likely cost far more money to construct something like that than the cost of a modernized swing bridge that has two lane traffic flow. Not to mention the tourist/heritage value of having one of the world's only swing bridges.
The bridges over 100 years ago, that time I think no big boat go ....