Canso Canal Bridge, Railway and highway swing bridge at Canso Canal, Nova Scotia, Canada.
Canso Canal Bridge is a 94-meter-long steel truss structure that carries a two-lane highway and a railway track across the waterway, connecting mainland Nova Scotia with Cape Breton Island. The rotating section opens multiple times daily to allow commercial ships, fishing vessels, and pleasure boats to pass while road and rail traffic pauses temporarily.
The bridge opened in April 1955 as part of the Canso Causeway project, replacing the ferry service that previously connected mainland Nova Scotia to Cape Breton. This development transformed transportation access to the region and established the first direct road link between the two landmasses.
The bridge is a visible connection point for local communities, crossed daily by thousands traveling between mainland Nova Scotia and Cape Breton for work and daily life. Its rotating mechanism allows fishers and maritime operators to continue their livelihoods without lengthy detours around the region.
The bridge operator rotates the structure multiple times daily for maritime traffic, which may cause brief delays for vehicles and trains crossing the canal. Visitors should expect possible pauses when traveling through, particularly during busy fishing and shipping seasons.
The structure is an unusual combination of road and rail bridge, requiring constant coordination between provincial road authorities and the local railway operator for safe passage of both traffic types. This dual-function design makes it a distinctive engineering solution rarely seen in the region.
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