Saint-Laurent Railway Bridge

Saint-Laurent Railway Bridge

The Saint-Laurent Railway Bridge as seen from the Monette-Lafleur bus terminal.
Coordinates 45°25′8″N 73°39′34″W / 45.41889°N 73.65944°WCoordinates: 45°25′8″N 73°39′34″W / 45.41889°N 73.65944°W
Carries Canadian Pacific Railway
Crosses St. Lawrence River
Locale Kahnawake, Quebec and Montreal, Quebec
Official name none
Located only about 400 m south of the St-Laurent Railway Bridge, on the same line, is a pair of vertical-lift bridges to carry the rail line over the Saint Lawrence Seaway.

The Saint-Laurent Railway Bridge is a Canadian Pacific railway bridge linking LaSalle to the Kahnawake Mohawk Reserve, just upstream of the Mercier Bridge. It is used by the AMT Delson-Candiac commuter train. CSX trains, via the Montreal Subdivision, also use this bridge.

History of the bridge

1885 bridge.
Map showing the rail bridge, on the left.

There have been two bridge that cross the river at this location. The first bridge, erected in 1885-1887, was an all-steel construction that employed a flying cantilever design to cross the main channel. It was of a single track configuration.

The second structure (that still stands today), was rebuilt to a double track standard between 1910 and 1913. To build the bridge, the free ends of the main spans were floated across the water on a barge. [1]

References

  1. ↑ Werry, S.D. (1997). "Rails across the river: the story of the St. Lawrence Bridge (1881–-1915)". Can. J. Civ. Eng. (NRC Research Press) 24 (3): 480–488. doi:10.1139/l96-131. Retrieved 16 March 2014.

See also