Canada Investigates Bridge Allision on the Welland Canal

Marine investigators in Canada have launched an investigation after a general cargo vessel struck a bridge while transiting the busy Welland Canal in Port Colborne, Ontario.

The Transportation Safety Board of Canada (TSB) said it was deploying a team of investigators following the incident involving cargo vessel BBC Tokyo, which came into contact with the Clarence Street Bridge (also known as Bridge 21) while transiting the canal on April 16.

"The TSB will be gathering information and assessing the occurrence," the board said in a statement, without providing further details.

Reports in Ontario indicate the vessel made contact with the east side tower of the bridge while heading downbound in Port Colborne around noon. This prompted the St. Lawrence Seaway Management Corp. to close the bridge for several hours as a precaution.

Immediate assessments showed no major damage to the bridge, and it was reopened about 10 hours later. There were no injuries reported or impacts on the environment. Bystander photos suggest that the BBC Tokyo sustained scrapes along the starboard side.

Owned and operated by German shipping company Briese Heavylift, the 149-meter BBC Tokyo is a multipurpose heavylift vessel that transports a wide range of cargo, including wind turbine blades. The ship is designed for specialized transport through confined waterways such as the Welland Canal.

Investigators will seek to determine the circumstances in which the vessel struck Bridge 21, one of two vertical lift bridges constructed in Port Colborne in 1929 to accommodate traffic over the canal. The construction of the Port Colborne harbor railway in the mid-1990s meant that Bridge 20, which connected Port Colborne to railway lines on the western side of the canal, was no longer necessary; it was removed in 1997.

Bridge 21, which was designed for cars and connects the east and west sides of the city, has remained in use and is one of three operating vertical lift bridges over the canal, which is part of the St. Lawrence Seaway.

The canal is a busy waterway with about 3,000 ships transporting approximately 40 million tonnes of cargo annually. It has been rebuilt many times over the years to accommodate larger vessels.

BBC Tokyo's strike on Bridge 21 is the latest incident in which a ship transiting the canal has come into contact with a bridge. In August 2001, the lake freighter Windoc collided with Bridge 11 in Allanburg, closing vessel traffic for two days. The accident destroyed the ship's wheelhouse and funnel, ignited a large fire on board, and caused minor damage to the vertical-lift bridge.

Another incident occurred in September 2015 when the cargo ship Lena J collided with Bridge 19 in Port Colborne, forcing its closure to vehicle and pedestrian traffic for months.

Top image: Bridge 21 (file image courtesy Cameron Whitehall / CC BY SA 4.0)