Kings Highway 3 Bridge

This bridge reminds me of the great Hickory Bridge in Pennsylvania, since it has portal bracing similar to the Hickory Bridge, and is multi-span. In fact this bridge is one span longer than the Hickory Bridge! Based on age, location, and design, the Hickory Bridge is still a nicer looking bridge than this one, but this KH-3 Bridge still ranks among some of the most beautiful bridges I have seen.

I was led to this bridge by the Ontario Ministry of Transportation (MTO) when I asked them about truss bridges in southwestern Ontario. I did not expect to find such a large bridge here! According to MTO, this bridge was built in 1924. The bridge is a five-span Pratt through truss with riveted connections. Each truss span has seven panels. V-lacing is present on vertical members, and under the top chord. There is a cantilevered sidewalk on the north side of the bridge, with original lattice guardrails. Lattice guardrails are also on the road, but only on the south side. I believe that this is probably how the bridge was when it was built, based on the St. Paul Crescent Bridge. Modern guardrails were added to both sides of the roadway. The bridge is two-lane and has no posted weight limit. I noticed some repairs, including some bolted plate steel near the bottom chord connections. These repairs must be what help keep this bridge in service with no posted weight limit. In my opinion, these repairs did not hinder the historic integrity of the bridge enough to be a detriment. I saw several heavy trucks cross this bridge while I was here, which demonstrated the weight that the bridge was capable of supporting. Supports and abutments for this bridge are concrete. I noticed some cracks in the piers, and also some painted markings on them that looked like they were from a survey of the piers. Perhaps MTO is preparing to repair these supports. Like most truss bridges in Ontario, MTO has done an excellent job of maintaining this bridge, and as a result the bridge stands here today looking attractive and still doing its job.

There are roads on each side of the bridge that offer some excellent views of this bridge. There is also a multi-span deck truss railroad bridge nearby that you might want to check out if you visit this bridge.