Prince Edward Viaduct
|
The Bloor Viaduct looking west-northwest |
The
Prince Edward Viaduct System is the name of a
bridge system in
Toronto,
Ontario,
Canada that connects
Bloor Street East, on the west side of the system, with
Danforth Avenue on the east. The Don Valley phase of the system, more commonly known as the
Bloor Street Viaduct, the
Prince Edward Viaduct, the
Don Valley Viaduct, or simply
The Viaduct, spans the
Don River Valley, crossing over (from east to west) the
Don Valley Parkway, the Don River, and
Bayview Avenue Extension. The Don Valley phase is the most well known of the phases of the viaduct and will be the major focus of this article.
The Prince Edward Viaduct system also includes the Rosedale Valley phase (a smaller bridge carrying Bloor Street over the
Rosedale Ravine) and the Sherbourne Phase, an
embankment built to extend Bloor Street East to the Rosedale Ravine from approximately Sherbourne Street.
|
The subway deck of the bridge |
The Prince Edward Viaduct is a three hinged concrete-steel
arch bridge, with a total span of 490 metres at 40 metres above the Don Valley. The bridge consists of a deck, made up of transverse beams and I-girders, which transfer load to column supports. The column supports then transfer the load to the trusses within the arches, which transfer the load to the arches themselves. Finally, the arches transfer their load through large hinges, which transfer load to a concrete pillar, and eventually to the ground.
In addition to the Don River, The DVP, and Bayview, a major railway line (containing the
Richmond Hill (GO Transit) line), electrical transmission line, and bicycle trail all pass under the bridge spans.
Construction
Referenda on the construction of the Prince Edward Viaduct were held in Toronto in every year from 1910 to 1913, with residents voting against its construction in 1912 by 59 votes and in favour in 1913 by 9236 votes. The projected cost of its construction increased from C$759,000 in 1910 to C$2.5 million in 1913; its final cost was C$2,480,349.05 (~C$36 million in 2005 dollars when adjusted for inflation). Upon its completion in
1918, it was named for
the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIIIIt was designed to facilitate
mass transit; its upper deck accommodated trams, while both the Don Valley phase and the Rosedale Valley phase included a lower deck for rail transport, controversial at the time because of its high additional cost. The bridge's designer,
Edmund Burke, was able to have his way, and the lower deck eventually proved to save millions of dollars when the
TTC's
Bloor-Danforth subway, opened in
1966, was able use the Don Valley phase with no major structural changes to cross the Don River Valley. (The Rosedale Valley phase was not used; a separate bridge was built over Rosedale Valley west of the
Castle Frank Subway Station at the west end of the Bloor-Danforth Viaduct).
Growth of Toronto
The Prince Edward Viaduct has had two major impacts on the development of Toronto as a city. First, the completion of the Prince Edward Viaduct resulted in the "unification" of Toronto. Prior to the Prince Edward Viaduct, Toronto was much smaller than it is today; after its completion, Toronto grew more steadily, as traffic exchanged over the bridge stimulated the economy and helped the city to grow.
In winter, salt runoff from the bridge into the water beneath has a "pickling effect" on the plants below, resulting in their deaths, and ultimately the deaths of the animals that rely on them, and leading to a reduction in biodiversity. This could possibly be prevented by channeling the runoff from the bridge into collection containers, whose contents could eventually be processed into non-harmful products.
A magnet for suicide
At the time of the construction of the viaduct, suicide was not considered to be a major social issue, and as such the bridge design did not include any means for the prevention of suicides. As suicide became more prevalent in society, the Prince Edward Viaduct became a magnet for suicide, as people could easily jump over its short railings. This not only posed a risk to the lives of the jumpers, but also to the traffic underneath, which was in danger of being hit by a falling body.
With over 400 suicides, the Viaduct ranked as the second most fatal standing structure in the world, after the
Golden Gate Bridge in
San Francisco. A 1997 report from the
Schizophrenia Society of Ontario cited the average of "one person jumping from the bridge every 22 days". After years of controversy, the bridge's reputation as a "suicide magnet" eventually led to the construction of a suicide barrier called the
Luminous Veil. The
Jacques Cartier Bridge in
Montréal,
Québec is now the leading site for suicides in Canada.
The Luminous Veil
Designed by architect
Derek Revington and completed in
2003 at the cost of
C$6.5 million, the
Luminous Veil consists of over 9,000 steel rods, 12.7cm apart and 5m high, stretched to cantilevered girders to function as a suicide barrier. At the same time as the construction of the Luminous Veil, the bridge also underwent a renovation with the water proofing and concrete deteriorations being replaced. During construction, which was subject to numerous delays, over 90 suicides took place at the bridge.
The Prince Edward Viaduct is a structurally symmetric bridge, an aspect to art that is appreciated by people. Its black arches contrast its beige concrete piers in a manner that exposes their intricacies. The Luminous Veil has been regarded as a great contribution to structural art, as it is not only functional, but aesthetically pleasing as well, and it received the 1999 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence.
* The construction of the bridge was used as a setting for the historical fiction of
Michael Ondaatje's novel
In the Skin of a Lion.
* A scene from the movie
Resident Evil: Apocalypse was filmed on the Viaduct.
* The song "War On Drugs" by the
Barenaked Ladies was inspired by, and refers to, the Viaduct.
* The bridge plays a key role in the play
In Gabriel's Kitchen by
Salvatore Antonio, which is set before construction of the Luminous Veil.
