Welland Canal an average of about eleven hours to traverse the entire length of the Welland Canal. Before the digging of the Welland Canal, shipping traffic between Lake Ontario and Lake Erie used a portage road between Chippawa, Ontario, and Queenston, Ontario, both of which are located on the Niagara River—above and below Niagara Falls, respectively. The Welland Canal Company was incorporated by the Province of Upper Canada, in 1824, after a petition by nine "freeholders of the District of Niagara". One of the petitioners was William Hamilton Merritt, who was in part looking to provide a regular flow of water for
Welland Canal, Bridge 15 keep trespassers off. Bridge 15 is visually similar to the Montrose Swing Bridge located on the Welland River approximately 15 km away; however, that bridge is a Warren Truss, as opposed to the rarer Baltimore Truss of Bridge 15. The two bridges were constructed at approximately the same time. The Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway Swing Bridge over the canal (Bridge 8) at Thorold, Ontario was also constructed at approximately the same time. That bridge, built for interurbans and light electric freight locomotives, was a lighter construction and only carried a single track. Bridge 8 no longer exists. Bridge