Jackknife Bascule Bridge

Jackknife Bascule Bridge
The Jackknife Bridge in May 2008
Coordinates	48°22′21″N 89°14′57″W
Crosses	Kaministiquia River
Locale	Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada
Maintained by	Canadian Pacific Railway
Characteristics
Design	Bascule
History
Opened	April 1913 (1913-04)
Location

The Jackknife (or Jack-knife) Bascule Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Kaministiquia River at Thunder Bay, Ontario, Canada, to link the city to Mission Island, one of two islands in the Kaministiquia River delta. The bridge was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway between August 1910 and April 1913. The contractor for the abutments and piers was Alexander Charles Stewart (1867–1944). The bridge had two decks, the lower deck for trains and the upper deck for vehicular road traffic.

The bridge being opened for a boat in 2013

The vehicular portion of the bridge was replaced by the Island Drive Bridge, which connects neighbouring McKellar Island to the mainland, in 2003. The connecting roadways and upper deck of the Jackknife Bridge were dismantled in 2004, but the lower deck continues to function as the only rail link to the islands.

General overview

The Jackknife Bascule Bridge has a road width of 29 feet (or 8.84 meters. The length of the entire bridge is 374 feet (or 114 meters) in size. [1]

See also

• List of bascule bridges

External links

• Photos of the bridge before, during and after demolition of upper deck (in March 2004).