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Key Facts |
Bridge Name |
Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
| Kerwood Road Bridge | Plate Girder | Kerwood Road (Middlesex HWY-6) | Middlesex County, Ontario | Rural | Au Sable River |
This bridge is a 1960s example of a deck plate girder. Despite its relatively new construction date in a historic sense, this bridge bears great resemblance to bridges built in Michigan at earlier dates such as the 1940s Belding Bridge. The Kerwood Road Bridge in contrast, was built in 1964. The girders are fairly simple, and are not riveted together like Belding is. However, they still have that distinctive cantilevered girder design that was apparently internationally common for long-span crossings in the middle of the 20th century.
Ontario used a railing design very similar to Michigan's. Both Michigan and Ontario used this particular design for a number of decades generally finding the heaviest use surrounding 1950s. Both in Ontario and Michigan, the railing panels were sometimes separated by concrete posts or in other cases by steel posts. With bridges like the Kerwood Road Bridge and the Knight Street Bridge, steel was used. With bridges like the Christina Street Bridge and the Sigler Road Bridge, concrete was used.
The Kerwood Road Bridge is significant as a large and complete example of the structure type. I hope that Middlesex County will continue to maintain this bridge as time goes by, and allow this bridge to continue to represent this period in history well.
