Angus L. Macdonald Bridge

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge
The Macdonald Bridge in July 2015.
Coordinates	44°39′49″N 63°35′05″W / 44.6637°N 63.5846°W / 44.6637; -63.5846
Carries	Motor vehicles, pedestrians, and bicycles
Crosses	Halifax Harbour
Locale	Halifax Regional Municipality (Halifax — Dartmouth)
Official name	Angus L. MacDonald Bridge
Other name(s)	Macdonald Bridge The Old Bridge
Maintained by	Halifax-Dartmouth Bridge Commission
MMSI	16261
Characteristics
Design	Suspension bridge
Total length	1.3 kilometres (0.81 mi)
Width	11.5 metres (34.8 feet)
Height	102.9 metres (337.69 feet)
Longest span	441 metres[citation needed]
Clearance above	54 metres (177.25 ft) at centre-span
Clearance below	46.9 metres (153.87 ft) at centre-span
History
Designer	Philip Louis Pratley Henry Hugh Lewis Pratley Charles Nicholas Monsarrat
Construction start	1952
Opened	April 2, 1955
Statistics
Daily traffic	44,000 (2012) [1]
Toll	CA$1.25 cash/$1.00 MACPASS
Location

The Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is a suspension bridge crossing Halifax Harbour in Nova Scotia, Canada; it opened on April 2, 1955.

The bridge is one of two suspension bridges linking the Halifax Peninsula to Dartmouth in the Halifax Regional Municipality.

It is named after the former premier of Nova Scotia, Angus L. Macdonald, who had died in 1954 and had been instrumental in having the bridge built. The bridge was designed by Philip Louis Pratley, one of Canada's foremost long-span bridge designers who had also been responsible for the Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver.^[2] The bridges have a similar design, which is most notable in the towers. The contractor was Dominion Bridge Company Ltd.

The bridge regularly experiences traffic congestion during rush hours as a result of the structure's proximity to the downtown cores of Halifax and Dartmouth, as well as its narrow width. Large commercial vehicles are not permitted to cross and must use the wider MacKay Bridge to the northwest. Public transit buses are allowed to cross and the bridge links several Halifax Transit routes. In 2014/15 the average number of vehicle crossings per month was 1,183,095.

As of January 3, 2022 the toll charge to cross for regular passenger vehicles is $1.25 cash or $1.00 with the MACPASS electronic toll system.^[3] The original toll, when the Macdonald opened in 1955, was 40 cents plus 5 cents per passenger. There was also a separate toll for trucks, cyclists, pedestrians, motorcycles and horses/rider.