Toronto's Bridges: Prince Edward Viaduct

Often, when a viaduct goes through a city, it creates an ugly wall that acts as a boundary between communities. However, the Prince Edward Viaduct is so tall and open that it improves the environment.

The Don River Valley makes a pleasant change from the noise and traffic of downtown Toronto and the Prince Edward Viaduct is tall enough (40 m) so you are barely aware that five lanes of traffic and a train are rumbling by overhead.

This double-deck viaduct was built after a couple of false starts in 1918.  The bridge has a nice open design that looks more like wrought iron than a steel truss arch.  Spandrel columns carry the load from floor beams to the arches which are supported at the bottom of the concrete piers.

This photo was taken before a special barrier was built in 2003 that reduced suicides on the bridge to zero.

Toronto's Bridges: Prince Edward Viaduct by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial 3.0 United States License.