Prince of Wales RR bridge

The Prince of Wales Bridge is a rail bridge across the Ottawa River joining Ottawa, Ontario to Gatineau, Quebec. Now abandoned. It connected with the Canadian Pacific Railway line just west of Lebreton Flats, and crosses the south channel of the river to Lemieux Island; it then continues across the northern channel into Quebec.

It is a multi-span Pratt truss bridge, consisting of six equal spans over the south channel, and seven spans over the north channel; the second-last span, proceeding northward, is longer by a factor of about 1.7.

It was built by the Quebec, Montreal, Ottawa and Occidental Railway in 1880, named for Albert Edward, Prince of Wales. At that time, it was one of the few crossings of the Ottawa River.

The Prince of Wales Bridge served well into the 20th century, but as rail transport diminished and more efficient routes became more common, the line was abandoned.

Photo 1049d1, June 2010

The Prince of Wales Bridge

Photo 12, May 2012