Puslinch township has received several objections to the removal of Stroy’s bridge, but council and staff say there’s no easy fix to save the 100-year-old structure.
“It’s the abutments, not the bridge, that’s the problem,” Clerk Brenda law said at council’s last meeting in April.
Councillor Dick Visser added that if it was just a matter of fixing the deck of the structure, there would be no problem, as “a few welds” would likely do the trick. But replacing the bridge or fixing its foundation requires major work, and with it, major costs, Visser added.
Stroy’s bridge is a one-span steel truss bridge over the Speed River on Sideroad 10, about one kilometre north of Laird Road West. It has a span of 24.4 metres and a deck width of 4.3 metres.
The demolition of the structure requires an environmental assessment, including heritage impact and archaeological studies, which were completed by Golder Associates and presented to council on April 6.
The history
The earliest documented crossing at the location was an 1877 map, although that alone does not confirm there was actually a bridge there at the time. It is unknown when the first bridge at that location was built, but the current structure is a replacement of the original.
After unsuccessfully trying to get the county to assume the original bridge, Puslinch Township invited tenders to replace the structure in 1909.
Charles Mattaini, of Fergus, was hired to build new concrete abutments, at a cost of $795, and the Stratford Bridge Company built the structure for $1,307 – for a total of $2,102.
“What a bargain we’ve got from the $2,000 it cost to build it,” councillor Matthew Bulmer said with a laugh. He called the heritage and archaeology studies “fascinating.”
At the time of its construction in 1910, the bridge was known as Sorby’s bridge, named after the family that lived nearby, which was known for breeding clydesdale and hackney horses. They sold the farm in 1912.
In 1926 the federal government purchased the land for a rehabilitation centre for injured soldiers. The property was named Vimy Ridge farm, after the historic battle in The Great War. Later the farm became a training centre for for British boys to learn Canadian farming techniques.
Since at least the 1970s, the structure has been known as Stroy’s bridge, although not a lot is known about the bridge between its construction and the 1980s. In 1985, part of the truss was damaged by an overloaded vehicle and inspections in the early 1990s indicated the abutments were in very poor condition. A 1993 report from Gamsby and Mannerow indicated “it was only a matter of time before they fell into the river,” and the report quoted a replacement price of $510,000.
The bridge was then closed to vehicular traffic – as was a portion of Sideroad 10, from Niska Road to Laird Road – but it remained open to pedestrian traffic and many locals used the road and bridge as a walking trail.
The walkway was closed in 2008 due to deterioration and in August of that year, the township decided to demolish the structure.
Securing a place in history
Councillors expressed regret at losing the bridge, but a heritage impact assessment should ensure the bridge and its historic significance are not lost, including:
– documenting features prior to demolition;
– retaining as much as possible of “the existing approach earthworks and the culvert on site”;
– having a qualified industrial historian monitor the site during demolition;
– depositing any reports with the Wellington County Museum and Archives and the Puslinch library; and
– erecting a plaque describing the history of the structure at a public location close to the bridge site.
with files from Golder Associates’ heritage assessment
