Stone Road Bridge

[vaneramos]

The old bridge






The first time Danny visited me in Guelph, we hiked out Lilac Way as far as Stone Road, an hour each way. Beside the old single-lane bridge stood a big black willow shading a lush, grassy bank. We sat there hugging. I peeled off socks and boots to soak my feet in the cool Eramosa stream.

Last October I drove that way and found a broad, new bridge under construction alongside the old one. I stopped and took some uninteresting photos of the work.

Yesterday afternoon was so beautiful I got in the car and started driving, not sure whether I would turn toward Guelph Lake or the Arboretum, but ended up cruising down Stone Road to see what became of the old bridge.

It has been left intact. It is a truss bridge of reinforced concrete. I've walked across it before, but traffic always prevented me from loitering. Yesterday, taking my time, I noticed a date on the concrete span between the two arches: 1916. Although the old roadbed has been closed, the bridge appears in good condition and will apparently be left standing.

But the grassy place and the giant willow are gone, buried under the new bridge.





One more image is posted in texture.

Comments

[bitterlawngnome.livejournal.com]

Do you know anything about the history of the brigde? this kind of bridge used to be all up and down the Grand, I think there are ones still standing at Caledonia and Dunnville and other places. I wonder if they were part of some sort of modernisation drive since they all seem to have been build at about the same time.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

I don't know anything about the history, unfortunately. Seeing the date, and that the city had built the new road around it, rather than destroying the old bridge, made me curious about its history, too. I used to see old truss bridges along the Saugeen River when I lived and worked up around Walkerton. This is the only one I know around here. The remaining historic bridges around Guelph are arch bridges.

Wow, I just googled and came up with this PDF file, which gives a history of the bridge and reasons for its historic designation.

http://guelph.ca/uploads/PDF/City%20News/2002/cn030102.pdf

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

Oops, it's the first article in the document: "Notice of Intention to Designate."