Title:
The Middle Road Bridge (1909): Canada’s First Reinforced Concrete Arch-Truss Bridge
Author(s):
Bartlett
Publication:
Web Session
Volume:
Issue:
Appears on pages(s):
Keywords:
DOI:
Date:
10/17/2021
Abstract:
The Middle Road Bridge, constructed in 1909 primarily to carry farming traffic, was the first reinforced concrete arch-truss bridge in North America. The Toronto-based firm of Barber & Young designed the structure, following the principle that “mathematics and aesthetics go hand-in-hand”. James Franklin Barber (1875-1935) was a very prominent bridge designer of over 200 bridges in Ontario between 1908 and 1920. Clarence Richard Young (1869-1964) joined the Department of Civil Engineering at the University of Toronto in 1907 and eventually became Dean of the Faculty of Applied Science and Engineering between 1941 and 1949. The builder, Octavius Laing Hicks (1873-1930), was a widely known bridge contractor around Toronto.