A bridge to the future of Toronto’s revitalized waterfront has floated into view. Half of the new Commissioners Street bridge glided into Toronto Harbour’s shipping channel, south of Polson Pier, early Tuesday afternoon. The western half of the bridge, all 83 metres and 650 tonnes of steel, started its journey May 5 at a manufacturing plant in Dartmouth, N.S. It rode the St. Lawrence Seaway past Montreal, the Thousand Islands and into Lake Ontario. It will sit in the channel for a few days and then be hauled overland into place as an eventual connector between Villiers Island, being created along with a “renaturalized” Don River mouth, to the east downtown shoreline. The section will then wait for the eastern half, slated to float its way to Toronto this summer. When completed the Commissioners Street bridge will be 152 metres long, the biggest of four stylish bridges being built for the massive project. The first bridge, installed at Cherry Street, floated into the harbour with great fanfare last November, heralded by officials as a “future iconic landmark of the city’s skyline.”
Article Source: thestar.com
