Whether I am conducting one of my heritage walking tours or giving a historical talk, there are always people who want to know more about that “hunk of concrete” under the Queen Street bridge.
Here’s a brief explanation of what it represents and the reason why it has been designated historic by both the Ontario government and our own local authorities.
When I was young, it was just the site where we would meet during our youthful ramblings, just another part of the many lost remnants of times in the past.
Today, the structure does not look like much to the casual observer. Perhaps you may be out for a leisurely stroll along the Tom Taylor Trail, and you have just emerged from under the Queen Street bridge, and you are immediately confronted with this huge structure that seems out of place.
You have found yourself standing in front of one of the earliest reinforced concrete arches in Canada, constructed with what was, at the time, a new miracle substance: reinforced concrete. The Newmarket Radial Railway Arch was built in 1909 by the Toronto and York Radial Railway company, which served Newmarket and area from 1890 to 1930.
This reinforced concrete parabolic arch was used to support a wooden trestle bridge that spanned the Holland River where the Grand Truck rail service exited Newmarket on its way north to Jackson’s Point and Sutton. The actual location of the arch, for those who wish to check it out, is on Queen Street between Main and Charles streets.
Credit for its design rests with Barber and Young, an innovative civil engineering firm, and its builder was O.L. Hinks and Sons. In its time, it represented an outstanding example of the modern functional bridge design that was presenting itself across this country.
Let us look at a few particulars about the structure. It had a clear span of 15 metres and a rise of nearly seven metres. Earth fill from the construction of the Ghost Canal was used to build up the grade. After the railway discontinued operations in 1930 due to the increased use of cars and buses, the trestle bridge was demolished, but the trestle remained. The earth fill eroded from around the concrete arch and it became surrounded by vegetation, with the radial arch quickly being forgotten.
Recognizing the arch was one of few of its kind, it was preserved in 1979 by the Town of Newmarket and South Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority. We shall look at that move a little later.
What made the arch special? The Newmarket radial trestle represents an example of one of the earliest reinforced concrete arches in Canada, a new technology at the time. In an earlier column on the subject, I explained the Metropolitan railway company was incorporated in 1877 and was gradually extended north as a horse car line up Yonge Street to Eglinton Avenue. The line was then electrified in 1889 and it reached York Mills in 1890. In 1899, the line was extended through Richmond Hill, Aurora and up to Newmarket.
The current concrete arch replaced one section of the existing trestle bridge, where a section had collapsed due to rot at the log abutment.
The radial arch is one of the last surviving remnants of the electric railway system, which linked many of Ontario’s southern communities. The arch was one of the first concrete bridges built in Ontario, and one of the earliest remaining reinforced concrete structures in Canada.
In 1978, the South Lake Simcoe Conservation Authority planned to demolish the structure as part of a scheme to deepen and straighten the Holland River to facilitate flood control. The public became aware of those intentions and was in favour of saving the arch. In 1983, a historical plaque was dedicated to the arch and, in 1997, the arch was designated for its historical and architectural significance by the Town of Newmarket under Bylaw 1997-37. March 17, 1997; Heritage Newmarket file: 515 Queen St.
Aspects of the site that contribute to its heritage value include:
- its construction of reinforced concrete using a modified Melan system.
- its design, consisting of an arch on a nine-metre (30-foot) radius over the waterway, braced by abutments on either shore with a roadbed and reinforced concrete parapet.
- the massive proportions, and the simulated voussoir stones and coursed stonework marked in the concrete surface, illustrating the imitation of masonry work in this early stage of reinforced concrete structural design.
- its close association with the Trent-Severn Waterway National Historic Site of Canada.
- Its location spanning the Holland River.
There exists a similar arch, built in 1912, also built by the Toronto and York Radial Railway and similarly designated as a heritage structure located near the intersection of Dufferin and Queen streets, spanning the Canadian Pacific Railway tracks in Toronto.
Before I close, I want to provide you a bit of background on the history of concrete and, particularly, reinforced concrete.
It is reported the first use of concrete dates back to 1756 and British engineer John Smeaton, who it is said made the first modern concrete (hydraulic cement) by adding small pebbles as a coarse aggregate and mixing powdered brick into the cement.
Designed for a specific project by Smeaton, his new formula for concrete created a huge surge in the use of concrete in modern structures. In 1824, English inventor Joseph Aspdin invented Portland cement, which has remained the dominant form of cement used in concrete production. Aspdin created the first true artificial cement by burning ground limestone and clay together. The burning process changed the chemical properties of the materials and allowed Aspdin to create a stronger cement than plain crushed limestone would produce.
So, what is reinforced concrete, then? Concrete took a historic step forward with the inclusion of embedded metal (usually steel) to form what is now called reinforced concrete or ferroconcrete.
Reinforced concrete was invented in 1849 by Joseph Monier, who received a patent in 1867. Reinforced concrete combines the tensile or bendable strength of metal and the compressional strength of concrete to withstand heavy loads. Monier would exhibit his invention at the Paris Exposition of 1867. He promoted reinforced concrete for use in railway ties, pipes, floors, and arches. It would also end up being used in the first concrete-reinforced bridges and massive structures such as the Hoover and the Grand Coulee dams.
The site of the Newmarket Radial Railway Arch now resembles a large lump of concrete with two open ends, a fenced-in area that is frequently waterlogged and overgrown with vegetation. It is fascinating to examine it up close and picture how it must have looked in 1909. Today, it serves as a monument to our railway transportation heritage and is still a cool place to hang out.
Next time you are out for a walk, why not stop and have a look? Imagine an electric rail system overhead and this massive piece of concrete holding the whole thing up.
Sources: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada; oral history interviews conducted by Richard MacLeod; Metropolitan railway article on NewmarketToday; the Toronto and York Radial Railway Arch — An odd structure in the middle of Newmarket, by Bruce Forsyth; The History of Concrete and Cement, by Mary Bellis; Who Can Save the Radial Arch — Who Pays, Asks SLSCA, article from the Newmarket Topic; the Newmarket Era; The Radial Railway Cairn — Tom Taylor Trail.
Newmarket resident Richard MacLeod, the History Hound, has been a local historian for more than 40 years. He writes a weekly feature about our town’s history in partnership with NewmarketToday, conducts heritage lectures and walking tours of local interest, and leads local oral history interviews.
