Rainbow Bridge

Rainbow Bridge
Rainbow Bridge as seen from Canada - August, 2007
Carries	4 lanes of vehicular traffic (2 each way), pedestrian traffic
Crosses	Niagara River
Locale	Niagara Falls, Ontario and Niagara Falls, New York
Maintained by	Niagara Falls Bridge Commission
Design	Arch bridge
Longest span	feet ( m)
Opening date	November 1, 1941
Toll	3.00 USD or 3.50 CAD per auto (westbound only)

The Rainbow Bridge at Niagara Falls is an international steel arch bridge across the Niagara River gorge, and is a world-famous tourist site. It connects the Cities of Niagara Falls, New York, United States (to the east), and Niagara Falls, Ontario, Canada (west).

The Rainbow Bridge was built near the site of the earlier Honeymoon Bridge, also called the "Falls View Bridge" or officially the "Upper Steel Arch Bridge", which had collapsed on January 27, 1938, due to an ice jam in the river. A joint Canadian and American commission had already been considering a new bridge to replace it, to which the collapse gave added urgency. A design by architect Richard (Su Min) Lee was chosen (and later used again for the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge, approximately  km ( mi) downriver). King George VI and Queen Elizabeth, during their visit to Niagara Falls as part of the 1939 Royal Tour of Canada, dedicated the site of the Rainbow Bridge; a monument was erected to commemorate the occasion. Construction began in May of 1940. The bridge was officially opened on November 1, 1941.

The engraved text giving the biblical origin of the Rainbow term

The New York State Department of Transportation designates the bridge New York State Reference Route 955A (though it is unsigned), while the Ontario Ministry of Transportation designates the bridge as part of Highway 420, even though it is separated from the rest of the route by a regional road. On the American side, a number of state and national routes end at a set of intersections in front of the bridge. New York routes 104 and 384, as well as the northern section of the Robert Moses State Parkway, all terminate at the final intersection before the bridge, and none of the designations passes onto the bridge itself. U.S. Route 62 terminates two blocks north at route 104, which then continues to the bridge.

The complex on the Canadian side of the Rainbow Bridge features the Rainbow Tower, which houses a large carillon that sounds several times daily.

The bridge permits no commercial trucks; the nearest border crossing for these is the Lewiston-Queenston Bridge.^[1]

See also

• List of crossings of the Niagara River

External links

• Niagara Falls Bridge Commission
• Google Maps view of Rainbow Bridge
• Location of the bridge with photos, videos, and other web sites related to the area
• Images from the Historic Niagara Digital Collections
• Rainbow Bridge in the Structurae database

References

Bridges of the Niagara River
Upstream North Grand Island Bridge	Rainbow Bridge	Downstream Michigan Central Railway Bridge

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