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Key Facts |
Bridge Name | Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
| Strathroy Bridge | Truss | Albert Street (Highway 39) | Middlesex County, Ontario | Strathroy | Sydenham River |
This bridge is similar in design to the KH-21 Bridge, although I would guess that this bridge is older than KH-21. KH-21 was built in the 60s, which is way beyond the timeframe of most truss bridges. Guessing dates is hard, but since this bridge has lattice guardrails, and the KH-21 had metal bar guardrails, I would say that the Strathroy Bridge is a bit older. The presence of riveted connections instead of bolted connections is also evidence of the Strathroy bridge's older construction. The members on the Strathroy Bridge are less massive than KH-21 also. Both bridges however share an unusual camelback design, where the portion of the top chord that angled, between the horizontal section and the endpost, is extra long. This gives the bridge an different appearance than most camelback shaped truss bridges.
The bridge is a two-lane bridge with a cantilevered sidewalk on the northern side. The railings are standard Ontario lattice style, with half of the lattice being angled, which adds strength. Also standard is that the railings are only present on the extreme edges of the bridge. This means that railing is present on the sidewalk of the bridge, and on the southern truss, but not on the northern truss. Apparently, railings back when this bridge was built were just to keep travelers from ending up in the river, preventing damage to the trusses was not a concern.
Work was being done on Albert Street the first time I was here, and the road was all tore up. The bridge did not appear to be a part of it at this time. A later visit in August 2006 revealed that the road had been resurfaced up to the bridge, but the bridge itself remains as it had, with no changes.
