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Welland By-Pass
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Welland By-Pass
The Welland By-pass, completed in 1973, was a massive construction project on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada.
A new channel 13.4 km (8.3 mi) long was constructed, providing a shorter, more direct alignment between Port Robinson and Port Colborne and by-passing downtown Welland. The project helped improve navigation along the canal and alleviated problems the presence of a busy ship canal was causing in Welland.
Although the city of Welland had originally grown around the canal, the traffic in the canal began to increase. Notably, the 1959 opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway caused in increase in traffic through Welland. Despite efforts to mitigate this, such as the use of CCTV to improve ship flow, by the 1960s the constant interruptions in the flow of the vehicular and rail traffic through the city became bothersome. A single ship would hold up traffic for at least ten minutes as it travelled under a vertical lift bridge. In periods of heavy ship traffic, a bridge might stay raised for multiple ships to pass, and long lines of cars, trucks and buses could be delayed more than 30 minutes. The St. Lawrence Seaway Authority reported that, "... at time, some 50 vessels were lined up in the lakes awaiting entry for hours or even days." Additionally, many railroad yards and lines originally built on Welland's outskirts now found themselves in the middle of a growing city; the heavily used rail lines from Toronto to Buffalo were suffering delays, as well.
The old route, established in 1932 with the building of the fourth Welland Canal, was also inconvenient to the ships since it was twisting and narrow. The five vertical lift bridges and a railroad swing bridge, all within close distance of one another, made the manoeuvring tricky and the journey stressful. Captains complained of bulky buildings on the canal's edge blocking the line of sight. One of them commented, "The main thing every Lakes captain used to dread was Bridge 15 [built during the 3rd canal era, but in use until 1972], a railway bridge in the town of Welland with an abutment in the middle... I think every captain on the Lakes must have [scraped it] at one time or another."
Several options were considered to enhance the capacity of the canal through the Welland region. The option of widening the canal through the city was rejected due to the built-up nature of the city. Routes to the east of the current alignment, which bypassed Welland to the east, were also considered.
One such route was to direct the canal directly south from Port Robinson to Lake Erie. However, this route would require substantial investment to develop a harbour and other infrastructure on the lake, since the current Port Colborne would be bypassed. An alternate direct route from Port Robinson to Port Colborne would have encroached into Welland's post-war developments, which would have had public, political, and expropriation costs.
A third third route, which also spanned from Port Robinson to Port Colborne, but farther east around Welland through less valuable and less developed land, was ultimately selected.
Dr John N. Jackson, professor at nearby Brock University, notes that:
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Welland By-Pass
The Welland By-pass, completed in 1973, was a massive construction project on the Welland Canal in Ontario, Canada.
A new channel 13.4 km (8.3 mi) long was constructed, providing a shorter, more direct alignment between Port Robinson and Port Colborne and by-passing downtown Welland. The project helped improve navigation along the canal and alleviated problems the presence of a busy ship canal was causing in Welland.
Although the city of Welland had originally grown around the canal, the traffic in the canal began to increase. Notably, the 1959 opening of the St. Lawrence Seaway caused in increase in traffic through Welland. Despite efforts to mitigate this, such as the use of CCTV to improve ship flow, by the 1960s the constant interruptions in the flow of the vehicular and rail traffic through the city became bothersome. A single ship would hold up traffic for at least ten minutes as it travelled under a vertical lift bridge. In periods of heavy ship traffic, a bridge might stay raised for multiple ships to pass, and long lines of cars, trucks and buses could be delayed more than 30 minutes. The St. Lawrence Seaway Authority reported that, "... at time, some 50 vessels were lined up in the lakes awaiting entry for hours or even days." Additionally, many railroad yards and lines originally built on Welland's outskirts now found themselves in the middle of a growing city; the heavily used rail lines from Toronto to Buffalo were suffering delays, as well.
The old route, established in 1932 with the building of the fourth Welland Canal, was also inconvenient to the ships since it was twisting and narrow. The five vertical lift bridges and a railroad swing bridge, all within close distance of one another, made the manoeuvring tricky and the journey stressful. Captains complained of bulky buildings on the canal's edge blocking the line of sight. One of them commented, "The main thing every Lakes captain used to dread was Bridge 15 [built during the 3rd canal era, but in use until 1972], a railway bridge in the town of Welland with an abutment in the middle... I think every captain on the Lakes must have [scraped it] at one time or another."
Several options were considered to enhance the capacity of the canal through the Welland region. The option of widening the canal through the city was rejected due to the built-up nature of the city. Routes to the east of the current alignment, which bypassed Welland to the east, were also considered.
One such route was to direct the canal directly south from Port Robinson to Lake Erie. However, this route would require substantial investment to develop a harbour and other infrastructure on the lake, since the current Port Colborne would be bypassed. An alternate direct route from Port Robinson to Port Colborne would have encroached into Welland's post-war developments, which would have had public, political, and expropriation costs.
A third third route, which also spanned from Port Robinson to Port Colborne, but farther east around Welland through less valuable and less developed land, was ultimately selected.
Dr John N. Jackson, professor at nearby Brock University, notes that:
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