The Kelley Swing Bridge

The Kelley Swing Bridge. . , Canal Background , Known officially as the Holland River Diversion, this waterway was a proposed extension of the Trent Canal System from Lake Simcoe to Aurora by way of the East Branch of the Holland River. In 1904 an increase in freight rates of 30 to 50 percent by the Grand Trunk Railway led Sir William Mulock, MP for York North, to suggest the construction of a canal link from Newmarket to Aurora. The idea proved to be popular: as part of the Trent Canal System, it would provide economical water access to Chicago, Northern Ontario, Manitoba, the Western Provinces, Montreal and European Markets. The "Trent Valley Canal Extension Association" was formed in February 1905, with representatives from Aurora, Bradford, Holland Landing, King, Whitchurch, North, East and West Gwillimbury, Georgina and Newmarket with H.S. Cane of Newmarket as the president. The association sent a delegation to Ottawa on February 21, 1905 to intercede on behalf of the project, resulting in E.J. Walsh being retained by the Government to prepare the plan for the construction., Construction , The canal was to be 50 feet wide and 6 feet deep. There was insufficient natural drainage to supply water to the locks, so a reservoir one and a quarter mile long, one hundred feet wide and fourteen feet deep was considered, with dammed kettle lakes providing back-up supply. A later estimate decided that it would have taken two and a half weeks to fill the locks. Construction of the project began in 1906, with an initial project cost estimate of the Newmarket section of the canal at $100,000. The eventual expenditures actually resulted in significant budget overruns, with the project costing $600,000 with another $400,000 required for completion. Although E.J. Walsh was criticized for the overruns, he pointed out that considerable changes to his original plan were made, such as thicker walls and locks being lengthened by the Department of Railways. In addition, acquiring land and staffing for the project had not been included in the original estimates., Project Cancellation , The project received significant public support despite the budget overruns. However with costs continuing to escalate the project was eventually cancelled in 1912 by Prime Minister Sir Robert Borden. At this time, eighty percent of the excavation of the Newmarket portion had been completed and three locks, four swing bridges and a turning basin had been built, with little other work done in the area between Holland Landing and Lake Simcoe. No work proceeded on the canal project after 1912 until 1924 when the government sent work crews to tidy up the ground around the abandoned works to make them safe, The Swing Bridge , - also known as The Kelley Bridge , This pony truss steel bridge was built to rotate on a turntable at one end. Designed to be hand cranked, some of the original gearing has been preserved and is in place on the east bank of the river directly under the current pedestrian bridge. It was one of four swing bridges built by 1911 for the canal route at a cost of $ 6,482. The bridge became commonly known as the Kelley Bridge due its close proximity to the Kelley family farm which occupied 100 acres of land south of the swing bridge location dating back to 1871. Although it never actually operated as a swing bridge, as part of the original gravel road it carried vehicular traffic until February 2002 when Green Lane was reconstructed with a new concrete bridge. Because of unsafe structural conditions the superstructure of the swing bridge was removed in 2004. ,