Chief William Commanda Bridge
The Chief William Commanda Bridge (French: Pont Chef-William-Commanda), formerly the Prince of Wales Bridge, is a pedestrian/cycling bridge and former rail bridge that spans the Ottawa River between Ottawa, Ontario and Gatineau, Quebec, Canada. It connects the Trillium Pathway in Ottawa to the Voyageurs Pathway in Gatineau. The bridge crosses the south channel of the river to Lemieux Island at the edge of Nepean Bay and continues across the northern channel into the Province of Quebec.
Chief William Commanda Bridge | |
|---|---|
Looking west to the Chief William Commanda Bridge | |
| Coordinates | 45°24′56″N 75°43′40″W |
| Carries | Pedestrians and cyclists |
| Crosses | Ottawa River, Lemieux Island |
| Locale | Ottawa-Gatineau, National Capital Region, Canada |
| Official name | English: Chief William Commanda Bridge French: Pont Chef-William-Commanda (since July 2021) |
| Named for | Chief William Commanda |
| Owner | City of Ottawa |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Truss bridge |
| Rail characteristics | |
| No. of tracks | 0 (rails have been removed for re-opening as a shared-use path) |
| Track gauge | 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge |
| Structure gauge | AAR |
| History | |
| Opened | 1880 reopened on August 4, 2023 |
| Closed | 2005 |
| Location | |
The bridge formerly connected with the Bytown and Prescott Railway line just west of Lebreton Flats and was operated by the Canadian Pacific Railway for most of its history. It was bought by the City of Ottawa in 2005. Initial plans to incorporate it as part of an interprovincial public transportation link eventually fell through and it was repurposed for pedestrian and cycling use as part of the Capital Pathway shared-use path network.
It is a multi-span Pratt truss bridge, consisting of six equal spans over the south channel, and seven spans over the north channel; the second-last span, proceeding northward, is longer by a factor of about 1.7.