Welland Canal Bridge 11
bridge in Canada
Bridge 11, also known as the Allanburg Bridge, is a vertical-lift bridge over the Welland Canal within the City of Thorold and community of Allanburg, Ontario, Canada. The location was used for the groundbreaking ceremony for the canal. It was constructed and completed in 1930. The bridge carries Hwy 20 connecting Niagara Falls to Fonthill.
The bridge has a 60.9-metre (200 ft) main span. It was designed by Harrington, Howard & Ash, the predecessor of HNTB. It was rehabilitated in 2001 and is a through-truss vertical-lift bridge with 36.5 m (119.8 ft) clearance for shipping.
On August 11, 2001, the bridge was struck by the MS Windoc (1959) when the lift span was lowered before the ship cleared the structure. The ship caught fire. After minor repairs to the bridge, it reopened to vehicular traffic on November 16, 2001.
Begin with the source’s own compact description: “Welland Canal Bridge 11” is bridge in Canada. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Welland, Canal and Bridge, not as a finished interpretation.
Why this record matters
The phrase “bridge in Canada” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.
The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Nov 25, 2025. The linked authority identifier is Q24190742. Authority coordinates are 43.076, -79.211. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1930, 2001 and 1959.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
- Jurisdictional context
- Routes into maps and plans
Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “Welland Canal Bridge 11”, its source revision and the description used here.
- Expand the search: follow Welland Canal Bridge 11 primary sources, Welland Canal Bridge 11 archive and Welland research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
- Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.
Questions for further research
- Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Welland Canal Bridge 11”?
- Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
- Which authority defined the place, boundary or structure at the relevant date?
Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “Welland Canal Bridge 11” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.