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Cull Drain Bridge on Old Lakeshore Road An almost forgotten bridge within Sarnia city limits still stands – barely, as this is written towards the end of the year 2000. It is this writer’s hope the community will rediscover this structure before it collapses and realize its critical necessity in a logical expansion (and new, combined Official Plan endorsed) of Sarnia’s Bluewater Trails network, segments of which exist in the public access portion of the waterfront. With the recent refurbishment of the original 1938-built Bluewater Bridge complete, the wonderful possibility arises that this Cull drain bridge – which predates the first St. Clair River span by over a quarter of a century – can again see service after proper restoration. Archival research has shown that: “Sealed tenders addressed to Robert Beatty, Sarnia, Ontario, will be received up until 12 o’clock noon on May 21, 1910, for the furnishing of material and erection of the steel bridge, 100 feet centre to centre in bearing by 16 feet clear roadway, across the Cull drain on the Lake road, 9th concession of Sarnia township. The steel work to be designed according to Ontario government specifications and carrying in addition to its own weight and the weight of the concrete floor, 100 lbs. per square foot, and a concentrated load of 12 tons on two axles 10 foot centres.” The Lambton County Reports from 1910 indicated “that the bridge over the Cull drain is erected and completed in accordance with plans and specifications for same.” – (dated in Sarnia, Dec. 8, 1910) Entries in the Auditor’s Report of 1910 for the Township of Sarnia for September and October show payments of $2000 and $500 to the firm of Jenks & Dresser. A reference to this firm is found in “Town Topics” of the Sarnia Weekly Observer from Aug. 30, 1910: “The partnership of Jenks & Dresser in the bridge works in Sarnia and Port Huron is dissolved and the Sarnia enterprise will be owned by Mr. Jenks and Mr. Norton while the Michigan end of the business will be owned by Mr. Dresser and Mr. Fuller. Both plants are doing a large and successful business.” That the steel was manufactured by the Carnegie Steel Company can be inferred from the rolled markings on the material itself. It’s interesting that in the Columbia Encyclopedia’s reference to Andrew Carnegie mention is made of: “His essay ‘The Gospel of Wealth’ (1889) set forth his idea that rich men are ‘trustees’ of their wealth and should administer it for the good of the public.” In a round about way, it would indeed be yet another benefaction in Carnegie’s long list if his revitalized steel could serve Sarnia again. An internet search has revealed the underlined criteria for properly describing bridges. In this case it is a continuous span of 100 feet and its material is steel. The placement of the travel surface in relation to the structure makes this a pony configuration where traffic goes between parallel superstructures that are not cross-braced at the top. Finally, its form is that of a Warren Truss, of which there are many variations. This design, patented by James Warren and Willoughby Morzoni of Great Britain in 1848, can be identified by the presence of many equilateral or isosceles triangles formed by the web members that connect the top and bottom chords. These triangles may also be further subdivided which is the case here with those having their apexes pointing down having this feature. This bridge also has the element of a queen post truss with a horizontal top chord to achieve a longer span. The same auditor’s report reveals a sum of $1100 paid October 28, 1910 to Alfred Kirkpatrick for building the abutments, the cement foundations on which the bridge rests. Mr. Kirkpatrick, a Petrolia resident, has been described as a giant of a man with broad shoulders and incredible strength. A site visit and inspection of the northeast section of the top of the curb leading to the bridge will find scrawled in the cement: “A. KIRKPATRICK – August 1910”. Another reference to this audit for the same date shows a $478.12 entry, paid to F. Gutteridge for the cement supplied for the abutments and road deck. For this new bridge to have been built, a strip of land from lot 24 on the east side of the Cull drain had to be expropriated from the property of Angus Jamieson to widen the lake road. It was a similar case for James Yeates, owner of lot 25 on the western approach. The following is quoted from a 1910-dated clipping found in the Lambton Room of the public library in Wyoming: “A disappointment as to the value was the result and the matter went to arbitration. The land owners appointed Robert Fleck and the Council James S. McLean. The two men thus chosen adopted the unique plan of settlement without a third man, witness or counsel. They viewed the premises and recommended the Council pay Mr. Jamieson $180 and Mr. Yeates $165, and the trifling cost everyone bear his own. The value of the land was easy to get at. The main difficulty was to estimate the damage to the front of each farm by the strip to be taken and the timber and orchards to be affected.” In this regard, another entry for legal costs in the same audit shows: “Hanna, LeSueur and Co., settlement in full for Yeates and Jamieson arbitration - $350”. This number suggests the law firm was paid only $5 for their services. Adding the mentioned numbers shows total expenses of $4428.12 for this bridge, a rather heady sum for those days. For whatever official reason, the County of Lambton saw fit to pass Bylaw #430 on the 10th of June, 1910. This bylaw granted “the sum of $2300 to assist the Township of Sarnia to build a bridge over the Cull drain, north boundary of the County.” This writer especially likes the anecdotal evidence offered by Mr. Stewart Jamieson, direct descendant of Angus Jamieson and current resident on the ancestral property. The bridge was actually 100’1” in length, long enough for grant eligibility apparently. If this is true, then it certainly gives new meaning to the colourful phrase: “You trying to squeeze an inch in on me there?” It would seem Sarnia Township did indeed to their senior level of government. Yes sir, to the tune of $2300! This bridge is a superb example of an industrial archeological relic. Its riveted construction and lattice railing and 16’ road width are from much earlier times at the dawn of the automobile era. Archival evidence shows that this bridge has not seen a car pass over it for some time, perhaps even since the late 50’s. It was not in service on St. Patrick’s Day in 1973 when a violent storm scoured out much of Old Lakeshore Road between Telfer and Brigden sideroads. But the bridge still stood. Wisely placed new concrete and other techniques might rescue the presently degraded abutments. The steel seawall installed after the storm from this bridge to Huronview Park is ending its useful life over a quarter century later. It remains to be seen whether there will be the political will and community support to recover and display the wealth of history Sarnia has, this bridge a very noteworthy part of our inventory. Submitted by George Sunaitis, December 2000 |
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