First Welland Canal reason for the error is not known. On July 4, 1818, Merritt organized a meeting in St. Catharines. The outcome was a petition sent to Upper Canada Legislature to provide for construction of a canal between the Twelve Mile Creek and Welland River. Unlike Merritt's original water-canal plan, the petition included plans for allowing boats to cross the Niagara Escarpment. In 1823, Hiram Tibbetts, an engineer, was employed to make a formal survey for the route. He suggested to dig a channel below the surface level of Welland River between present-day Port Robinson and Allanburg, and then follow the Twelve
Welland Canal, bridge 13 Street in 1903. This Bridge is well documented at the Welland Public Library Local History Site. In 1927, this bridge was moved one block south to Division Street to make room for construction of the current Bridge 13. While the previous three canals were each at slightly different locations, the width of the greatly expanded fourth canal encompassed all of them. Fourth canal construction started as early as 1913. There were delays as a result of World War I, and this massive project was not completed until 1932. Bridge 13 was constructed between 1927 and 1930, with steel work of