HWY H2O Bridge #5 Traditional Cache
White Cloud 65: Going to archive this one.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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A quick cache along the 4th Welland canal near Lift Bridge #5
Place with my 2 granddaughters
No need to step of the concrete.
The Glendale Avenue Bridge is an example of a standard plan truss vertical lift bridge over the Welland Canal. The actual bridge span is a camelback Pratt through truss. It has nine panels. Connections are riveted, and v-lacing is present on the verticals and lattice is on the bottom of the top chord. The towers of the bridge have the appearance and construction of a truss bridge themselves. Many members on the towers are v-laced, and a-frame bracing forms a portal for the towers. The east portal bracing for the towers has been replaced. I assume some tall truck creamed the originals, necessitating their replacement! There are no guardrails for cars, which is probably how the bridge was built. I think it is cool that they are not afraid to leave the bridge guardrail-less, especially if that is how it was originally. There are ornate lattice guardrails with scrollwork designs on top for the cantilevered pedestrian sidewalks on both sides of the bridge. These guardrails can be found on many Welland Canal Bridges, including some of the other bridge types, like the plate girder bascule on Lakeshore Road. The towers of the bridge are quite tall, and huge concrete counterweights hang from them. Huge chains are attached to part of these counterweights. Signs near the vertical lift bridge indicate that the bridge is now remotely controlled, using cameras. There is no one stationed right at the bridge anymore to operate it. Apparently, one person can operate any number of bridges from one location these days.
Additional Hints
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