Prince Edward Viaduct

The Prince Edward Viaduct looking west-northwest

The Prince Edward Viaduct System is the name of a bridge system in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that connects Bloor Street East, on the west side of the system, with Danforth Avenue on the east. The Don Valley phase of the system, more commonly known as the Bloor Street Viaduct, the Prince Edward Viaduct, the Don Valley Viaduct, or simply The Viaduct, spans the Don River Valley, crossing over (from east to west) the Don Valley Parkway, the Don River, and Bayview Avenue Extension. The Don Valley phase is the most well known of the phases of the viaduct and will be the major focus of this article.

The Prince Edward Viaduct system also includes the Rosedale Valley phase (a smaller bridge carrying Bloor Street over the Rosedale Ravine) and the Sherbourne Phase, an embankment built to extend Bloor Street East to the Rosedale Ravine from approximately Sherbourne Street.

Design

File:Pesubway.jpg

The subway deck of the bridge

Designed by Edmund W. Burke, the Prince Edward Viaduct is a three hinged concrete-steel arch bridge, with a total span of 490 metres at 40 metres above the Don Valley. The bridge consists of a deck, made up of transverse beams and I-girders, which transfer load to column supports. The column supports then transfer the load to the trusses within the arches, which transfer the load to the arches themselves. Finally, the arches transfer their load through large hinges, which transfer load to a concrete pillar, and eventually to the ground.

In addition to the Don River, the Don Valley Parkway, and Bayview, a major railway line (containing the Richmond Hill (GO Transit) line), electrical transmission line, and bicycle trail all pass under the bridge spans.

History

Construction

Referenda on the construction of the Prince Edward Viaduct were held in Toronto in every year from 1910 to 1913, with residents voting against its construction in 1912 by 59 votes and in favour in 1913 by 9236 votes. The projected cost of its construction increased from C$759,000 in 1910 to C$2.5 million in 1913; its final cost was C$2,480,349.05 (~C$36 million in 2005 dollars when adjusted for inflation). Upon its completion in 1918, it was named for the Prince of Wales, later Edward VIII

It was designed to facilitate mass transit; its upper deck accommodated trams, while both the Don Valley phase and the Rosedale Valley phase included a lower deck for rail transport, controversial at the time because of its high additional cost. The bridge's designer, Edmund Burke, was able to have his way, and the lower deck eventually proved to save millions of dollars when the Toronto Transit Commission's Bloor-Danforth subway, opened in 1966, was able use the Don Valley phase with no major structural changes to cross the Don River Valley. (The Rosedale Valley phase was not used; a separate bridge was built over Rosedale Valley west of the Castle Frank Subway Station at the west end of the Bloor-Danforth Viaduct).

Growth of Toronto

The Prince Edward Viaduct has had two major impacts on the development of Toronto as a city. First, the completion of the Prince Edward Viaduct resulted in the “unification” of Toronto. Prior to the Prince Edward Viaduct, Toronto was much smaller than it is today; after its completion, Toronto grew more steadily, as traffic exchanged over the bridge stimulated the economy and helped the city to grow.

Environment

In winter, salt runoff from the bridge into the water beneath has a “pickling effect” on the plants below, resulting in their deaths, and ultimately the deaths of the animals that rely on them, and leading to a reduction in biodiversity. This could possibly be prevented by channelling the runoff from the bridge into collection containers, whose contents could eventually be processed into non-harmful products.

Suicide

A magnet for suicide

At the time of the construction of the viaduct, suicide was not considered to be a major social issue, and as such the bridge design did not include any means for the prevention of suicides. As suicide became more prevalent in society, the Prince Edward Viaduct became a magnet for suicide, as people could easily jump over its short railings. This not only posed a risk to the lives of the jumpers, but also to the traffic underneath, which was in danger of being hit by a falling body.

With over 400 suicides, the Viaduct ranked as the second most fatal standing structure in the world, after the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. A 1997 report from the Schizophrenia Society of Ontario cited the average of "one person jumping from the bridge every 22 days". After years of controversy, the bridge's reputation as a "suicide magnet" eventually led to the construction of a suicide barrier called the Luminous Veil. The Jacques Cartier Bridge in Montreal, Quebec is now the leading site for suicides in Canada.

The Luminous Veil

Designed by architect Derek Revington and completed in 2003 at the cost of C$6.5 million, the Luminous Veil consists of over 9,000 steel rods, 12.7cm apart and 5m high, stretched to cantilevered girders to function as a suicide barrier. At the same time as the construction of the Luminous Veil, the bridge also underwent a renovation with the water proofing and concrete deteriorations being replaced. During construction, which was subject to numerous delays, over 90 suicides took place at the bridge.

Structural art

PEV at sunset

The Prince Edward Viaduct is a structurally symmetric bridge, an aspect to art that is appreciated by people. Its black arches contrast its beige concrete piers in a manner that exposes their intricacies. The Luminous Veil has been regarded as a great contribution to structural art, as it is not only functional, but aesthetically pleasing as well, and it received the 1999 Canadian Architect Award of Excellence.

Appearance in popular culture

• The construction of the bridge was used as a setting for the historical fiction of Michael Ondaatje's novel In the Skin of a Lion.
• A scene from the movie Resident Evil: Apocalypse was filmed on the Viaduct.
• The song "War On Drugs" by the Barenaked Ladies was inspired by, and refers to, the Viaduct.
• The bridge plays a key role in the play In Gabriel's Kitchen by Salvatore Antonio, which is set before construction of the Luminous Veil.