Welland Canal Bridges
The Welland Canal carries ships 43 kilometres across the Niagara Peninsula, climbing almost 100 metres between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie to get around Niagara Falls. Eight road bridges cross it, from Bridge 1 at Port Weller in St. Catharines down to Bridge 21 in Port Colborne, and every one stops traffic when a freighter comes through. They're a mix of lift and bascule bridges, some sitting right beside the locks that do the climbing. Below are all eight in canal order, north to south, each with its live status and how long it usually stays down.
Bridges
In canal order, north (Lake Ontario) to south (Lake Erie).
Lakeshore Rd
Carlton St
Queenston St
Glendale Ave
Highway 20
Main St
Mellanby Ave
Clarence St
Why closures come in waves
One ship closes bridges in sequence. An upbound freighter meets Bridge 1 at Lakeshore Road first, then works south through St. Catharines, Thorold and eventually Port Colborne — locks and traffic stretch the trip, so the same vessel can be stopping road traffic somewhere on the canal for much of a day. There's no fixed timetable for when it reaches each bridge, which is exactly why live status beats guessing.
Skipping the wait entirely
Four crossings never open for ships: the Garden City Skyway (QEW) in St. Catharines, the Thorold Tunnel (Highway 58), the Main Street Tunnel in Welland, and the Townline Tunnel (Highway 58A) between Welland and Port Colborne. When a lift bridge is down and the queue is long, they're the dependable detours.
The canal at a glance
A full transit takes a ship about 12 hours: eight locks do the climbing, seven of them stacked at the St. Catharines end and Lock 8 levelling things off at Port Colborne. The shipping season typically runs from late March to early January, and on a normal day in season around eleven vessels make the passage.
The bridges themselves are part of the canal's history: the Homer Bridge at Queenston Street has been rolling open since 1928, Clarence Street's vertical lift went up in 1929, and the Main Street bascule in Port Colborne has worked since 1932. Bridge 11 at Allanburg made the news in 2001 when its span was lowered onto the freighter Windoc — the crossing stayed shut until that November while it was repaired.