Balls Bridge

In the 1830’s, William and Mariah Ball emigrated to Canada from England together with their 5 sons and 2 daughters and arrived in Huron County a decade later. The family settled on top of the hill overlooking today’s Ball’s Bridge. In those days there were no bridges, so each time they crossed the river to go to the market in Goderich, they had to remove their shoes. One day a granddaughter went with her mother Jane Ball to buy sugar at the market. At the time a construction crew was working nearby and a young engineer spotted her. According to Daryl Ball, a direct descendant who still lives on the original land, the two fell in love and in 1885, the young beau built Ball’s Bridge so that his love would be able to cross “without getting wet”. The couple married and moved to upper Michigan to build many more bridges.

Still today, the historic bridge has not only served to join farmer to his field, but also to join hearts. It is a destination point for many first dates with the locals

The bridge was constructed as a two-span, pin-connected, Pratt through truss bridge, with a great deal of attention given to the details. Today it is rare to find one, as Ball’s Bridge is only one of very few still standing in Ontario or in all of North America, for that matter. According to the Heritage Branch, Architecture and Heritage Planning (Ontario Ministry of Culture) in 1986, “The construction date of 1885 makes it one of the older bridges in the province; the material (presumably wrought iron) is extremely rare (only two others known in the province) and the design (pin-connected through truss) is increasingly rare with less than a dozen known ones left…it is in the best condition of all the pin-connected through trusses we have seen to date.”

However, this type of bridge was no longer suitable for today’s traffic and a new, modern bridge was built in 1989 on Londesborough Rd.
The engineering report did mention that an amount of about $5,000.00 per year ought to be set aside for maintenance of the old bridge.
As often is the case, not much at all was done to maintain it. The bridge still looked good and tourists and locals alike would sometimes take the scenic route along Little Lakes Rd using the old Ball’s bridge to cross the Maitland river for the sheer enjoyment of it.

But, in April, 2006, Huron County’s engineer decided it was unsafe and the bridge was closed!

If you are interested in technical/construction details about old truss bridges, click www.HistoricBridges.org.

Preservation - How Balls Bridge Was Saved...