New name urged for Heron Road Bridge
Labour council wants city to honour workers killed in 1966 collapse
The Ottawa and District Labour Council is hoping to convince city officials to rename the Heron Road Bridge in honour of workers killed or injured when it collapsed during construction half a century ago.
On the afternoon of Aug. 10, 1966, Ottawa’s deadliest construction accident killed seven workers. Another died in hospital, and a ninth worker died about a month later. Dozens more were injured.
Most of the dead workers were crushed under thousands of tonnes of wet concrete. Some might have suffocated as the concrete hardened. Workers fled in a panic — some even reportedly swam down the Rideau River. It was dawn the next day before all the workers, living and dead, had been accounted for.
Witnesses said the span over the Rideau River appeared to be trembling violently for a split second, then it came down with a noise like a giant thunderclap. A cloud of dust obscured the area. Trapped workers were moaning and calling for help, but they couldn’t be seen because of the dust.
Meanwhile, an army of rescuers converged on the scene, including mayor Don Reid. Police cars, taxis and canteen trucks were pressed into service to bring the injured to the Civic Hospital. A man dressed as a clown, who had been entertaining at a nearby birthday party, rushed to the scene to offer a hand. Rev. George Larose, chaplain of the Ottawa fire department, went through the wreckage and said the last rites for many of the trapped and injured workers.
Three months after the accident, the general contractor, O.J. Gaffney Ltd. of Stratford, was fined $5,000, the maximum allowed at the time under the Construction Safety Act. Some workers never heard a word from government or company officials after the collapse. Families of workers who were killed got monthly compensation cheques of a few hundred dollars a month.
“History gets forgotten unless the story’s told enough,” Sean McKenny, president of the Ottawa and District Labour Council, said. “Our hope is that people won’t forget.”
In memory of the workers killed or injured, the labour council would like to see the bridge renamed the Heron Road Workers’ Memorial Bridge. A boulder on the southwest side of the bridge has a plaque to commemorate the accident, but many Ottawa residents might not be aware of this painful chapter of the city’s history, he said.
Coun. Riley Brockington, whose River ward covers that area, supports the idea and has agreed to help stickhandle the formal renaming process at City Hall.
“I think this is a dignified way to remember the men who lost their lives,” he said.
Mayor Jim Watson’s office confirmed on Tuesday that he also supports the renaming proposal.