Little Current Swing Bridge
The Little Current Swing Bridge is a swing bridge in the Canadian province of Ontario, located at the community of Little Current in the town of Northeastern Manitoulin and the Islands.
Viewed from the southwest in 2019
The single lane of the Little Current Swing Bridge
Little Current Swing Bridge (open position) looking east, from Town Dock, 2006
Little Current Swing Bridge (closed position) looking east, from Town Dock
A swing bridge is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span can then pivot horizontally as shown in the animated illustration to the right.
I Street swing Bridge span turned to allow a boat to pass Sacramento California
BNSF Railroad Bridge 9.6 across the Columbia River in Portland, Oregon, showing the swing-span section turning.
An example of how small swing bridges like this one may be pivoted only at one end, but that does require substantial underground structure to support the pivot. Victoria & Alfred Waterfront, Cape Town.
El Ferdan Railway Bridge in Egypt; the longest swing bridge in the world, runs from the east of the Suez Canal to the west into Sinai. It is left open most of the time to allow sailing ships to pass in the canal, only closing during the passage of trains.
