Prince Edward Viaduct

43.67528 - 79.36389Koordinaten: 43 ° 40 ' 31 " N, 79 ° 21' 50 " W

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Don River

The Prince Edward Viaduct ( Bloor Street Viaduct also called ) is a double-deck arch bridge in the Canadian city of Toronto. It crosses the east of the city center the Don River and connects the Bloor Street with Danforth Avenue, two of the most important east-west main roads of the city. The upper level of the 494 -meter long bridge carries five roadways, on the lower runs the Bloor- Danforth line of the Toronto Subway.

Construction

It was designed by architect Edmund Prince Edward Viaduct W. Burke, while Thomas Taylor held the role of executive engineer. It is an arch bridge made ​​of reinforced concrete with a length of 494 meters and a width of 26 meters, which crosses the gorge-like valley of the Don River in height of 40 meters. Both levels of the bridge are located on the diagonal beams and I-shaped beams which distribute the load on the pillars. This, in turn, distribute the load on the truss and resting on concrete pillars arches.

The bridge also carries on the important main roads Don Valley Parkway and Bayview Avenue, the GO Transit suburban railway line to Richmond Hill, a high-voltage line and a bike path along the river. At the Prince Edward Viaduct, the shorter Rosedale Valley Bridge closes to the west towards Parliament Street at which the gorge Rosedale Ravine with the Castle Frank Brook, a covered tributary of the Don River, crossed.

History

1910 planned the city of Toronto, a new bridge, but the project failed in 1911 and 1912, twice in a row in a referendum. The construction costs of $ 2,500,000 were considered very high, especially as the area east of the Don River was then sparsely populated and therefore the bridge the nickname Bridge to Nowhere ( " Bridge to Nowhere " ) wore. The third referendum on January 1, 1913 was finally successful. Stadtbaumeister Rowland Harris was able to ensure that the bridge a second level was to use this later for a greenfield mass transportation.

Initially referred to as the Bloor Viaduct, the bridge was at its opening on October 18, 1918 the name Prince Edward Viaduct, named after the Prince of Wales and future King Edward VIII Until the construction of the subway took almost five decades. Before the opening of the Bloor- Danforth Subway Line of the year 1966, the lower level of the bridge had to be adapted only slightly. Since then, it connects the stations Frank Castle on the west bank and Broadview on the eastern shore.

Suicides

At the time of bridge suicides were not yet as significant social problem. Because of the ease to plunge from the bridge into the gorge, the Prince Edward Viaduct over the years attracted more and more suicides. With a total of over 400 suicides the bridge was the world's second-most attraction for vulnerable people after the Golden Gate Bridge.

In 1998, the Toronto City Council decided to structural measures to prevent further suicides. After several delays, the " Luminous Veil " ( Luminous Veil ) by architect Derek Revington 2003 was completed. This is 10,000 steel pipes of five meters in length, which are attached to an angled steel frame and connected by steel cables. This award-winning design now offers you effective protection against suicides without affecting the view.

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