A railway lift bridge northeast of Fort Frances, Ontario, and near the border to the United States collapsed late Wednesday afternoon — an incident without injuries, that left behind mangled debris and uncertainty about when this pass will open to marine traffic.
The Rainy River Rail Lift Bridge, at more than 100 years old, led to the Port of Thunder Bay. The cause isn’t yet known.
“It’s a disaster,” said Al Boivin, owner of Rainy Lake Boat Taxi, who until the incident was able to see the raised bridge from his home’s front window. “My barge can’t gain access to the north part of the lake. I have no idea when it will be working again.”
Canadian National Railway owns the bridge and said in a statement that it had begun working on repairs on Thursday. Environmental crews had contained and were “recovering a release of biodegradable, non-toxic hydraulic oil related to the incident,” according to a news release.
Boivin lives about 1/4-mile from the site and said his wife heard the crash. The Town of Fort Frances issued a news release asking those using the lake to avoid the area. Known as the 5-Mile Bridge, it was built in 1908 and its main span was 134 feet, according to historicbridges.com.
“It failed yesterday for the first time ever,” Boivin said.
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