A thousand birthday greetings for US-Canada Thousand Island Bridge

The Canada-US Thousand Island Bridge system celebrated its 80th birthday in August with presentations and an open house at its US headquarters. The 33.7km three-bridge system over the St Lawrence River took 16 months to build and was completed 10 weeks ahead of schedule. It runs from Collins Landing near Alexandria Bay in the US state of New York to the small town of Ivy Lea in the Canadian province of Ontario. The system connects US Interstate 81 and Canada’s Highway 401, a major motorway between Montre
August 21, 2018 Read time: 2 mins
The Canada-US Thousand Island Bridge system celebrated its 80th birthday in August with presentations and an open house at its US headquarters.


The 33.7km three-bridge system over the St Lawrence River took 16 months to build and was completed 10 weeks ahead of schedule. It runs from Collins Landing near Alexandria Bay in the US state of New York to the small town of Ivy Lea in the Canadian province of Ontario. The system connects US Interstate 81 and Canada’s Highway 401, a major motorway between Montreal and Toronto, ending in Windsor on the Ontario border with the US state of Michigan.

The 1,370m crossing over the American channel of the river - from the US mainland to Wellesley Island - consists of a suspension bridge with a main span of around 245m and nearly 46m of clearance above the river.

The Canadian crossing includes the 183m continuous Warren Truss span connecting Hill Island to Constance Island, a steel arch of 106m spans from Constance Island to Georgina Island and a suspension bridge of 229m from Georgina Island to the Canadian mainland. The Canadian span from abutment to abutment is 1,015m and the suspension span provides 37m of river clearance.

The boundary at the International Rift boundary – the channel between Wellesley Island and Hill Island - is bridged by two parallel 27.4m rigid-frame arched spans of reinforced concrete with masonry facing. Originally there was only one bridge at boundary but due to increased traffic it was twinned in 1959.

Operation of the Thousand Islands Bridge system is shared under a joint agreement that created the US based Thousand Islands Bridge Authority which estimates that there are 2,000 vehicle-cross the annually. The system’s original consulting engineer was Robinson and Steinman of New York City that  continues to do so today but as 3220 Parsons Transportation, notes the authority.

Road Structures

For more information on companies in this article

Related Content

  • Canada: LINK 427 wins Ontario’s Highway 427 Expansion contract
    March 16, 2017
    LINK 427 has been selected for the US$457 million design, build, finance and maintain contract for the Highway 427 Expansion project in Ontario province. The LINK team consists of ACS Infrastructure Canada, Dragados Canada, Bot Infrastructure, Brennan Infrastructures, MMM Group and Thurber Engineering. The project, in the Toronto area, includes a new 6.6km extension of Highway 427 from Highway 7 to Major Mackenzie Drive and widening of 4km from Finch Avenue to Highway 7. Work includes building thre
    Read More
  • Zipping up road lanes
    September 28, 2018
    QMB has a Lindsay Road Zipper on duty near Montreal. World Highways deputy editor David Arminas climbed aboard As vice president of Canadian barrier specialist QMB, based in Laval, Quebec, Marc-Andre Seguin is sanguine about the future for moveable barriers. On the one hand, it looks good. The oft-stated advantage of moveable barriers is that the systems are cheaper to install than adding a lane or two to a highway or bridge. Directional changes to lanes can boost volume on a road without disrupting tra
    Read More
  • Financial close reached on Ontario’s Highway 401 expansion
    May 2, 2019
    Financial close has been reached by the West Corridor Constructors consortium on the US$494.46 million Highway 401 Expansion project near Toronto, Canada. West Corridor Constructors consists of Canadian construction firm Aecon which holds 50%, US-based building products firm Amico, which holds 20%, and US-based infrastructure engineering firm Parson, which holds 30%. The Highway 401 Expansion is a redevelopment and widening project between Regional Road 25 in the towns of Milton and Credit River in th
    Read More
  • Over 1/3rd of US bridges needing repair or replacement
    April 15, 2020
    Over 1/3rd of US bridges are needing repair or replacement according to a new report.
    Read More

Highlighted Content