Queen Street Bridge
Encyclopedia
Toronto
Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
carries vehicles and Toronto Transit Commission
Toronto Transit Commission
-Island Ferry:The ferry service to the Toronto Islands was operated by the TTC from 1927 until 1962, when it was transferred to the Metro Parks and Culture department. Since 1998, the ferry service is run by Toronto Parks and Recreation.-Gray Coach:...
streetcars along Queen Street East and across the Don River.
History
The bridge is at least the third bridge over the Don River at this location, the first operated by the Scadding family in the early 1800s. The previous bridges were closer to the level of the river bank below.The current steel Truss bridge
Truss bridge
A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...
was built in 1911. It was higher in elevation than previous bridges at the location and streets on each side of the river were graded higher to meet the level of the bridge. The construction of this bridge eliminated a grade-level railway crossing on the west bank of the river.
The bridge was renovated in the 1990s
1990s
File:1990s decade montage.png|From left, clockwise: The Hubble Space Telescope floats in space after it was taken up in 1990; American F-16s and F-15s fly over burning oil fields and the USA Lexie in Operation Desert Storm, also known as the 1991 Gulf War; The signing of the Oslo Accords on...
and public art
Public art
The term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
was added. At the top of the western side of the bridge is a piece of public art created in 1996 by Eldon Garnet
Eldon Garnet
Eldon Garnet is a multidisciplinary artist and novelist based in Toronto and a professor at the Ontario College of Art and Design. From 1975–1990 he was the editor of Impulse, a Canadian magazine of art and culture...
. It consisted of a clock, which ceased to work and the mechanism and hands were removed in 2010, with the phrase "this river I step in is not the river I stand in" written in large letters. There are also three metal "banners."