GTP Swing Bridge

Mission Terminal Swing Bridge West Fort William Station Empire Junction

The Grand Trunk Pacific Swing Bridge (known locally as the James Street Swing Bridge or simply The Swing Bridge) is located in the southern part of the City of Thunder Bay adjacent to Fort William First Nation at Milepost 1.2.

The bridge was constructed between 1907 and 1908 and is 530 feet long and 30 feet high. It is the only swing bridge in the Thunder Bay area and spans the Kaministiquia River. It opened regularly in the past as there was considerable ship traffic on the river. Volumes have declined significantly in more recent years, and the last time it opened was in 2007 or 2008. Today the bridge is part of Canadian National’s Mission Spur which connects to their Kashabowie Subdivision.

In 1905, Grand Trunk signed an agreement with the then City of Fort William regarding the bridge. In return for land, the company agreed to allow foot and vehicular traffic on the bridge in perpetuity. This traffic would be carried on cantilevered decks outward of the centre truss sections. In 2013, the decks were damaged in an underdetermined fire which closed the bridge to vehicular traffic. After lengthy litigation regarding the nature of of that original 1905 agreement, the bridge re-opened following repairs in November 2019.