It’s not very often that a bridge goes up for sale, but the council of Tyendinaga Township near Kingston, Ont., has decided to put one on the auction block.
“It should be interesting, these days even steel has value so it should be interesting in terms of scrap,” says township Chief Administrative Officer Carla Preston. “We do have a number of interests so, as with any auction, it only goes for as much as the person that’s interested plans on spending.”
Drew Harrison drove all the way from Picton, Ont., to see the bridge.
“I remember it from years ago and I wanted to come over and look at it,” he says. “I was interested to see it and see how good a shape it was in, or not in.”
Harrison knows what he’d like to do with the structure should he end up having the winning bid.
“I think it would make a good dock, that’s why I’m going to bid on it.”
Whatever the use, there’s plenty of history that comes with the crossing structure.
“It was originally the O’Brien bridge on 37 highway and then it was installed in 1963 on Shannon Road,” Preston says. “So it absolutely served our community and our residents well.”
Now sitting in the Blessington Yard off Shannonville Road, the bridge is helping the township with its environmental initiatives.
“We’re thinking green,” says Preston. “So really it’s twofold. We’re selling an asset, such as the bridge, that we no longer have a need or a use for, thus generating revenue for the township and ultimately the rate payers. But it’s finding a sustainable use for the bridge and we’re trying to reduce our environmental footprint.”
Preston says the online auction will hopefully start next week and run for a couple of weeks.
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