Henley Bridge

About

The Henley Bridge is a multi-span open spandrel concrete arch bridge in St. Catharines, Ontario, Canada. The bridge carries eight lanes of traffic of the Queen Elizabeth Way (QEW) in an east–west direction over Twelve Mile Creek.

The bridge was built during the late 1930s and formally opened on August 23, 1940. The structure was designed by the Bridge office of the Department of Highways of Ontario under Chief Bridge Engineer Arthur Sedgewick. The monuments at each end were designed by Toronto architect William Lyon Somerville, who also designed the Queen Elizabeth Way Monument at the then-eastern terminus of the QEW west of the Humber River.

Somerville incorporated decorations by sculptors Frances Loring and Florence Wyle. Within the median, each entrance to the Henley Bridge incorporates the prow of a galley, variously described as being Viking or Egyptian in design, carved in Queenston limestone, with oars and warrior shield in addition to the crest of the British Royal family. Above both prows of the ship are four lions.

Each lion has a shield of the other eight Canadian provinces (as Newfoundland was a separate British colony until 1949); the galley was adorned with the coats of...