Bridge #4: (Historic Bridges; Satellite)
These bridges are just downstream from Lock #3. The Skyway is part of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) that connects Toronto, CA, with Niagara Falls, Fort Erie and the USA.
Every source that uses the name Homer actually uses the name "Homer Lift." But I can't bring myself to add "Lift" because this is not a lift bridge. It is a bascule bridge. The irony is that most of the movable bridges over the Welland Canal are in fact lift bridges.
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| Street View of the skyway bridge from Bridge #4 |
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| cmh2315fl Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) Welland Canal Bridge 4 - Homer Lift Bridge (St. Catharines, Ontario) Homer Lift Bridge over the Welland Canal in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The bridge is a Pratt deck truss Rolling Lift double leaf bascule bridge. It carries Queenston Street (Regional Road 81 - former Highway 8). It was built during the 1920s as part of the 4th Welland Canal expansion project (1913-1932). Also known as Welland Canal Bridge 4. |
I was surprised when I read the comment on the Flickr photos that this was a rolling movable bridge. I had assumed it was a trunnion bridge since everything is below the deck. But this view clearly shows the arc member on which it rolls and HistoricBridges confirms that it is a Scherzer bascule bridge.
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| Digitally Zoomed of cmh2315fl Flickr, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) |
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| 1 of 5 photos posted by Wayne Huggins Nao Trinidad up bound passing under homer bridge heading to lock 3 of the Welland Canal June 28th 2022 |
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| Tim Shafley posted The USS Sioux City downbound in the Welland Canal, passing under the Homer Bridge |
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| Frank McPhee posted Federal Asahi, heading south under the Garden City Skyway toward the Homer Bridge. |
2 of 11 photos and a video posted by Karen Limardi with the comment: "The Algoma Equinox passing the Homer Bridge upbound heading to Lock 3....from my table at George's Greek Restaurant in St Catharine's along the Welland Canal ."
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| Provided by Brock University A black and white photograph of the Homer bridge (no.4) in the open position, just as construction was being completed, May 31, 1928. |
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| Provided by Brock University A coloured post card showing a ship passing underneath the Garden City Skyway with the Homer Bridge raised in the background. |
Homer bridge before the Skyway.
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| Provided by Brock University A colour postcard of a ship on the Welland Canal, with the Homer bridge raised in the background. |
Alain M. Gindroz posted three images with the comment:
HOLY SHIP! (I’m a day late again! 🤦🏻♂️🙄).Dateline: Welland Canal - August 26, 1996.The day ZIEMIA GNIEŹNIEŃSKA almost wiped out Bridge 4 (Homer Bridge).Fortunately, there were no injuries, pollution or damage to the ship and/or bridge structure.Here’s the funny part of the story!An hour or so after the incident and the dust settled the captain presented me with a bottle of Polish Żubrówka vodka. He said “Mister pilot this is for you for a good job”. I thanked him but also told him I really did nothing other than order the anchors dropped. He smiled and said “No you saved the bridge”. I said “No, we were just lucky this morning”. We agreed to disagree!He then presented to me with a SECOND bottle and said “Mister Pilot this is for extra stress”. We both laughed and I replied “Captain now that one I can accept” . We agreed to agree on that!
Pari Ann Abbott-Hooven: Captain Alain M. Gindroz did she lose her steering?
Alain M. Gindroz: Pari Ann Abbott-Hooven, steering was fine. We lost the main engine. Without propulsion the rudder has little effect even when it’s operational. She sheered to starboard and there was no stopping the rate of turn without the engine. This is why she ended up at this angle.
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| St. Catharines Museum & Welland Canals Centre posted While the canal is closed, we thought we'd help you get your ship fix with these historic photos of ships in the current and historic Welland Canals! 🚢 Today's ship is the Tulse Hill, which in this photo is passing under the Homer Bridge with the construction of the future Garden City Skyway visible in the background, sometime in 1961. The Tulse Hill was built at United Shipyards in Montreal in 1943 as Fort Moose, and scrapped in 1977. 2006.77.1801 Alison Peloquin postedHistory lesson for an early Sunday morning |
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| Dougie Jay commented on museum's post [I'm impressed that a crane in the early 1960s could handle a beam that big. I guess is the key to build and access road so that the radius is small.] |
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| Dougie Jay commented on museum's post |
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| Dougie Jay commented on museum's post |
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| Cheryl Goodwin, Apr 2022 |
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| Roger Daniels, May 2018 |
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| Darcy Aitchison, Jun 2017 |
This is the post that motivated researching these bridges.
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| 1 of 7 photos posted by Greg Black Harvest Spirit passing through the Homer Bridge. |
This view shows the leaves rolled back on their piers.
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| Digitally zoomed |
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| 1 of 8 photos posted by Bill Jr. Salton Welcome to the St. Lawrence Seaway, Egbert. |
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| Street View |
"Six lanes of traffic are carried across the bridge, which is 3.5 miles (5.6km) in length and 123 feet (37.5 meters) at its tallest point. It is the tallest and largest single structure along the entire QEW; the Burlington Bay James N. Allan Skyway, which is also part of the QEW, is actually two separate and smaller four-lane bridges....Tolls were charged on the bridge until 1973....Should the Garden City Skyway be closed due to a traffic accident or weather conditions, traffic is diverted along frontage roads to cross the canal at the Homer Lift Bridge, re-connecting to the QEW on the opposite side." [academic]
I used a street view to verify that Homer Bridge has just two lanes. Shoving six lanes of traffic over two lanes sounds like a recipe for a serious traffic jam. I wonder how often they have "weather conditions."
I can't find a date for the academic article, but it said plans called for replacing the bridge with "a twin-tube 8-lane tunnel." An engineering study in 2014 concluded that the Skyway should be replaced by 2025. The current plans would build a twin bridge on the north side of the current bridge, move all traffic to the new bridge while the current one is rehabilitated, and then use both bridges for the Queen Elizabeth Way. Some of the additional lanes would be used "for high-occupancy vehicles and re-instate truck climbing lanes." Construction is expected to start in 2024. [StCathrineStandard,insauga,NiagaraNow]
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| Amy Daggett posted Who's a Mckeil Marine fan now 😉 Evans Spirit keeping it classy after dark. Downbound at Bridge 4 in the Welland Canal 9.24.23 |
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| 1 of 4 photos posted by Michel Gosselin Happy River is in the Welland canal on October 12, 2023. She’s heading upbound towards lock 3 with a destination of Port Colborne. Michel Gosselin shared |
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