Heat causes issue with canal Bridge 21

A heat-related issue led to Bridge 21, the Clarence Street Bridge, being shut down and put into the raised position Tuesday afternoon

Alvina Ghirardi, manager of regional services for St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp., said heat — it was 28 C in Port Colborne — caused an issue with a sensor at the bridge.

The sensor sends a signal once the bridge is fully-down and seated that allows bridge road gates to go up, letting pedestrian and vehicle traffic through.

“Maintenance crews were dispatched. Once they were there, everything checked out,” said Ghirardi, adding the bridge was fully-down and seated in the roadway.

Before the crews arrived though, some pedestrians were crossing the bridge with the gates still down.

“We did allow some people to cross … it was unusual circumstances,” she said, adding the crossings were made under the watchful eyes of operators in St. Catharines.

When the gates are still down, people aren’t allowed to cross the bridge, but a two-way communication system allowed for contact between the operator and those users trying to get to either side of the city.

In addition to the voice system, there are cameras that monitor the bridge from St. Catharines.

Once the pedestrians were across, the seaway authority, Ghirardi said, put the bridge into the raised position to allow ship traffic to transit the Welland Canal.

Notices were sent out about the closure.

“Whenever a bridge is out we contact emergency services,” Ghirardi said.

Once the heat died down, the bridge was brought back down and the sensor and road gates worked. That took place sometime after 11:30 p.m. Tuesday and the bridge was reopened.

Ghirardi said what happened in Port Colborne with the heat and the bridge tends to take place more in the St. Catharines end of the seaway.

“We don’t see it so much in Port.”

Bridge 21, a lift bridge, is one of three crossings in the city.

The other two are Bridge 19, the Main Street Bridge, and Bridge 19A, the Mellanby Avenue Bridge.

Nathaniel.Johnson@niagaradailies.com 905-684-7251 | @DaveJTheTrib