Top 10 Facts about the Peace Bridge (2024)

The Peace Bridge is an international bridge between Canada and the United States at the east end of Lake Erie at the source of the Niagara River, about 20 Kilometres upriver of Niagara Falls.

It connects Buffalo, New York, in the United States to Fort Erie, Ontario, in Canada.

In 1812, the independent nation of the United States attempted to invade Canada as part of the War of 1812. It didn’t go well, and the USA and Canada have never been military adversaries since.

That’s an especially impressive fact considering that the US/Canada border is the longest in the world and also the least defended international border in the world.

The federal laws further required that this be approved and, in 1934, President Franklin Roosevelt signed legislation that finalized the creation of the Buffalo & Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority.

Here are the top 10 facts about The Peace Bridge.

1. International Joint Commission is Responsible for the Peace Bridge

There was general consensus that the bridge was necessary but who would oversee the new structure? International border crossings, after all, can be contentious.

Which nation pays for it? Which nation maintains it?

Responsibility for the Peace Bridge would fall not to the US or Canada but to an independent organization called theInternational Joint Commission.

Founded in 1909 to prevent disputes over the use of border waters. people from both sides make up The international commission.

The bridge is governed by a ten-member board consisting of five members from New York State and five members from Canada.

In 1925, this cooperative body approved the building of a new bridge to accommodate pedestrian and vehicle traffic over the Niagara River.

They called it the Peace Bridge.

2. Alonzo Clark Mather pushed for Construction of the Peace Bridge

Alonzo Clark Mather (April 12, 1848 – January 25, 1941) was the founder and president of the Mather Stock Car Company, a U.S. firm that built and leased railroad freight cars, especially stock cars.

In 1893 he proposed a design for an international harbour on the waterways around Fort Erie, Ontario/ Buffalo, New York.

Mather’s plans included new electrical generation plants at the falls; his plans weren’t adopted.

US industrialist Alonzo Clark Mather started pushing for a new bridge as early as 1919, claiming that it could become a symbol of the lasting peace between the USA and Canada

The US-Canada Peace Bridge was constructed at that location within his lifetime, but it was not based on any of Mather’s plans.

3. The Peace Bridge is a Toll Bridge

A toll bridge is a bridge that charges money for passage. Generally, the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road.

Tolls are collected one way only on crossing from the United States into Canada.

The Peace Bridge measures 3,580 feet in length from abutment to abutment. The roadway is 36 feet wide from curb to curb with two six-foot pedestrian sidewalks on either side of the bridge.

All capital improvements and operating expenses are funded by tolls.

While a single organization, the Buffalo and Fort Erie Public Bridge Authority manage two tightly linked groups of bridge operators and maintenance workers.

4. Water Current was a Major Obstacle in Building the Peace Bridge

A major obstacle to building this bridge was the water current, which averages 7.5 to 12 miles per hour.

Construction of the Peace Bridge would be a challenge. The water current, which averaged 7.5-12 mph, made the building very difficult.

The Peace Bridge, which crosses the Black Rock Canal on the American side of the Niagara River, is structurally sound with five-arched spans and a Parker through-truss.

Its length is 5,800 ft. (1,768 m) made from 3,500 ft. (1,067 m) of steel work.

In the end, however, 9,000 tons of structural steel, 800 tons of reinforcing steel, and 3,500 feet of steelwork came together to create a solid and stable border crossing.

5. The Peace Bridge is an Arch Bridge

The arch bridge is one of the most popular types of bridges, which came into use over 3000 years ago

The basic principle of an arch bridge is its curved design that conveys the load along the curve of the arch to the supports on each end.

These supports (called abutments) carry the load of the entire bridge and are responsible for holding the arch in the precise position unmoving position.

The Peace Bridge was designed as an arch bridge with five arched spans over the Niagara River.

In total, the Peace Bridge ended up being 5,800 feet long.

6. The Peace Bridge Expansion was Shelved

On December 2nd 1997, the Buffalo and Ft. Erie Public Bridge Authority announced plans for building a twin second Peace Bridge.

Construction was set to begin in March of 1999.

The highlight of this new bridge was a 17 storeys tall, 600-foot long, and 170-foot tall arch spanning the Black Rock Canal on the American side.

The new Peace Bridge would have helped increase daily vehicle traffic by 33%.

Today, legal difficulties and court challenges have delayed the start of bridge construction indefinitely.

7. The Peace Bridge is the third Busiest Crossing in Canada

After opening, the Peace Bridge quickly became the busiest border crossing between the United States and Canada.

Until 1992, the Peace Bridge was the busiest border crossing between Canada and the USA.

To this day, the Peace Bridge may transport up to 6,000 trucks per day, representing an average of $700 million in international trade every single week. The Peace Bridge has undergone many structural improvements.

“The Peace Bridge is our third busiest crossing in Canada, and there are approximately 1.2 million trucks that cross that bridge each and every year,” said Carol Fleck, coordinator and professor with Mohawk College’s supply chain management program.

“If they were to close that bridge for any number of days, we could see closures in businesses because they’re not getting the parts to keep them open.”

The bridge operates 24 hours a day, seven days a week.

8. Edward Lupfer was the Chief Engineer of the Peace Bridge

Edward Lupfer, was the chief engineer of the Peace Bridge. Companies in both the USA and Canada got the construction companies.

On March 13th 1927, Mr. Edward Lupfer, the chief engineer, drove the first car across the bridge. Mr. Lupfer later designed the Rainbow Bridge in Niagara Falls.

In June of 1927, the bridge finally opened to the public, although the official ceremony wasn’t held until August.

In attendance was The Prince of Wales, Canadian Prime Minister, British Prime Minister and American Secretary of State. The continent’s first coast-to-coast radio broadcast covered the event.

9. The Peace Bridge Complemented the International Railway Bridge

In 1873, the International Railway Bridge became one of the first major border crossings over the Niagara River.

The International Railway Bridge is a two-span swing bridge carrying the Stamford Subdivision of the Canadian National Railway across the Niagara River between Fort Erie, Ontario, Canada, and Buffalo, New York, United States

The railway bridge couldn’t support automobiles or increased foot traffic. Thus a new bridge was needed.

The Peace Bridge is built one kilometre south of the International Railway Bridge.

A major obstacle to building this bridge was the water current, which averages 7.5 to 12 miles per hour.

10. the USA and Canada Released a Joint Postage Stamp Commemorating the Bridge

Canada and the United States, on August 4, 1977, brought out a joint issue of postage stamps to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the bridge.

Unusual for joint issues, the two designs are radically different (the US was all blue and the Canadian was a full colour).

For the US the 13-cent Peace Bridge commemorative stamp (Scott 1721) was first available on August 4, 1977, in Buffalo, New York.

It honours the 50th anniversary of the Peace Bridge, which connects Buffalo and Port Erie, Ontario.

Bernard Brussel-Smith designed the blue stamp using a woodcut.

Earlier, Buffalo resident Emma M. Herold-Haft composed the Peace Bridge March in honour of the bridge’s opening in 1927.

A poem by Elijah Holt, a local Buffalo lawyer and amateur poet, commissioned for the bridge’s inauguration, is representative of the occasion:

Conceived and built by nations twain;

Born of the will and brawn and brain

Of both their peoples, looming high

O’er common waters, one more tie

’Twixt those whose friendship ne’er shall cease;

We christen Thee “The Bridge of Peace.”

These peoples of a kindred race,

Who met each other face to face

Upon the free and lasting way

Of Thy broad road, where naught shall stay