Welland Canal, Bridge 15 Welland Canal, Bridge 15 The Welland Canal Bridge 15 is a two-track Baltimore truss swing bridge located in the disused section of the Welland Canal within the city of Welland, Ontario. This section of canal is now known as the Welland Recreational Waterway. The bridge formerly carried the main line of the Canada Southern Railway (CASO) over the canal. As a result of the Welland Canal Relocation Project in the early 1970s, the CASO line was rerouted through the Townline Tunnel, bypassing this bridge. One track crossing Bridge 15 remained in service as an interchange line between the Canadian National
Welland Canal However, the sandy soil in this part of Ontario made a tunnel infeasible, and a deep open-cut canal was dug instead. A southern extension from Port Robinson opened in 1833, with the founding of Port Colborne. This extension followed the Welland River south to Welland (known then as the settlement of Aqueduct, for the wooden aqueduct that carried the canal over the Welland River at that point), and then split to run south to Port Colborne on Lake Erie. A feeder canal ran southwest from Welland to another point on Lake Erie, just west of Rock Point Provincial Park in