15 Neat Facts About The Construction Of The Peterborough Lift Lock

1. The Peterborough Lift Lock on the Trent-Severn Waterway—aka Lock 21—was built between 1896 and 1904 in an era when the strength of people, horse and steam power was shaping the transportation systems of a growing nation.

Opening Day: July 9th, 1904

2. The Lift Lock was part of a larger construction project to canalize the Otonabee River—allowing the Kawartha Lakes to connect with Peterborough's commercial centre.

3. To establish the foundations for the Lift Lock at Armour Hill during construction, 76,000 cubic yards of sand, soil and gravel were excavated until the limestone bedrock was reached 40 feet down.

4. The presswells for the hydraulic rams were excavated a further 75 feet into the rock.

5. A foundation of granite blocks—some weighing a whopping ten tons—was lowered to the bottom to provide a footing for the rams.

6. When completed, over 26,000 cubic yards of Portland cement had been poured, without a single piece of *reinforcing steel.

7. The Lift Lock was at the time the largest structure ever built in the world with unreinforced Portland cement. To compress the Portland cement, Rogers employed hundreds of hand-held air driven compactors.

8. The installation of the steel chambers and hydraulic rams by Dominion Bridge Company of Montreal began in 1901 and was completed in 1904.

9. The original steelwork is still in use today, modified by zinc refinishing and welding on the boat chambers. (New aluminum gates were added during the mid-60s.)

10. Peterborough's Richard Birdsall Rogers (aka R.B. Rogers)—a civil and mechanical engineer from Peterborough who studied at McGill—oversaw the design and construction of the Lift Lock.

RB Rogers, pictured in the dark jacket near the centre, with his team of engineers.

11. As originally built, the Lift Lock could generate all the necessary compressed air and water pumping pressure to operate the gate pivot engine, gate water seals and control systems by opening a water penstock set in the lock's upper reach.

Lift Lock nearing completion, 1903

12. The natural gravity fall of water powered the lock's internal machinery. This included a Taylor hydraulic air compressor, water turbines, water driven gate-engines and pumps.

13. The dual lifts are the highest hydraulic boat lifts in the world, with a lift of 19.8 m (65 ft).

14. The Lift Lock opened July 9th, 1904 to a huge crowd (see photo at top of post).

15. The Lift Lock, which was designated a National Historic Site in 1979, took eight years to construct.

*In the era of construction, the use of reinforcing steel was only just beginning, and the technique was viewed with professional skepticism.

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Timeless Message From 1928 For Peterborough About Buying Local & Believing In Your City

This historical message about Buying Local below is powerful stuff.

"Someone dropped it off to the Chamber," Stu Harrison, CEO of the Peterborough Chamber, tells PTBOCanada. "It's from the 1928 Peterborough Examiner. Apparently it ran several time during the months of March and April that year. A timeless message, 88 years old."

"I have seen things like this," Peterborough historian Elwood Jones tells PTBOCanada. "There were several Buy Local campaigns in the 1920s and 1930s. It may have been a joint venture with the Chamber of Commerce, downtown businesses and the city. We have a scrapbook at Trent Valley Archives, and I think it is in there too."

So yes, in 1928 supporting the Peterborough business community and the entrepreneurial/community spirit was vital—as it is today. Bring it Team Peterborough. It's in our DNA to collaborate and support each other.

Check this out... A very cool #LoveLocalPTBO message from the 1928 @PtboExaminer! #TeamPtbo pic.twitter.com/d9FT2oVeah

— Peterborough Chamber (@ptbochamber) February 17, 2016

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These Retro Peterborough Police Car Pictures Are Pure Awesome

Thanks to Lauren Gilchrist, Media Relations and Communications Coordinator from Peterborough Police Service, for digging these gems from the police archives for us.

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Here's A Really Neat Historic Map Of Peterborough

This is an amazing old historic map when Peterborough was basically all land—and was wrapped around the downtown. Can you spot where your house/residence is now?

The map is on a wall in the boardroom in the planning department at City Hall.

Love this old map at the @CityPtbo from when @downtownPtbo was the only part of @Ptbo_Canada pic.twitter.com/fUqQhpd94I

— Joel Wiebe (@JoelAWiebe) September 9, 2015

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Amazing Late 1940s Footage Of Chemong Lake "Floating Causeway"

Before the Causeway was completed in 1949, there was a floating bridge—aka "Floating Causeway"—connecting Bridgenorth to Ennismore for many years.

It must have been like driving on water, or car surfing, or driving on a dock—especially when waves would come crashing over it.

Watch this amazing footage below from Roy Studios in the late '40s from a promotional film called Call of the Kawarthas showing the Chemong Lake floating bridge in use...

Here is a short bit of film from 'Call of the Kawarthas', a promotional film made by Roy Studios in the late 1940's. It shows the Chemong Lake floating bridge in use.

Posted by Vintage Peterborough, Lindsay and the Kawartha Region on Thursday, March 7, 2013

So let's just never complain about the Causeway again.

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Pagoda Bridge In Jackson Park To Undergo Restoration

The City of Peterborough has hired Wilson Carpentry from Peterborough to undertake an extensive restoration of the Pagoda Bridge located in Jackson Park. The project will address structural and roof components required due to significant deterioration.

File Photo By Evan Holt

Work is scheduled to start this week and will continue for eight to 10 weeks. This preservation project is important, as the bridge is a significant piece of Peterborough's architectural heritage.

In order to ensure public and worker safety, the bridge—which made our list of top romantic spots in Peterborough—will be closed to pedestrian travel beginning August 27th for about six weeks. Pedestrians should plan alternate routes during this period.

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The Backstory On The Hilarious Citiots Improv Troupe

The Citiots Improv have become a fixture in Peterborough, playing monthly sold-out shows at the Gordon Best Theatre on Hunter Street —and more and more private gigs around Ontario as they grow in popularity. They provide, as renowned Canadian improv comedian Adam Cawley describes, "hilarious, fast paced, unforgettable improv." (Cawley himself has performed with them on several occasions.)

How did this awesome, influential troupe come to be? One of its original founders, Ray Henderson, explains...

2009

"Ray! Can you get some of the gang together and do a show at the Bethany Hills Ski Resort this weekend? I’ve called you guys 'The Citiots’!'" That phone call from the legendary Paul O’Sullivan in February 2009 changed the lives of myself, Dan Smith, Luke Foster, and everyone who followed.

Up until that point, Paul and I had been the producers of the successful “Impros vs Joes” series at the Gordon Best, which began in 2008. "Improvs vs Joes" was an evening of improv that included some of Paul’s famous friends (Jack Mosshammer, Patrick McKenna, Lisa Merchant, Colin Mochrie, and, of course, his wife, Linda Kash, to a name a few) as well as local “Joes”, including students from his classes as well as Dan Smith and Luke Foster. The latter had already achieved some success with their former troupe, “The Shrimps”, years earlier.

ALWAYS PICK UP THE PHONE

Back to the phone call from Paul O'Sullivan…I immediately called Dan Smith and asked if he would do the show with me, and who else he thought we should ask. Fast forward to that night in February 2009 in Bethany Hills, as five very nervous improvisers sat around a dinner table at the resort, pouring over the games list, hoping we remembered how to play each game. Hoping our mouths wouldn’t fail us and allow for noise to exit in some cohesive and entertaining fashion.

That first ever Citiot crew consisted of myself, Dan and Luke, as well as Phil Oakley and Emily Doyle—a performer that had been a part of my shows with Arbor Theatre since she was 8 years old in 1999. The ski resort must have liked us, because “The Citiots” were hired for 2 more shows that spring (Megan Murphy made her debut at the second show).

Dan Smith with special guest Adam Cawley at a show

We did well in Bethany, but Dan and I didn’t think that a Peterborough audience would be ready for a Citiots show. Afterall, they knew us. Why would they pay to see us? And Peterborough already had the Impros vs Joes Show.

Flash forward to November, 2010. The week of an Impros show, Paul called me to let me know that he and Linda were double booked and couldn’t make the Friday gig. I called Dan. We already had the sponsorship in place. The room was booked. Should we make it a Citiots show?

NERVES: THE FIRST SHOW AT GORDON BEST THEATRE

As people climbed the stairs of the Gordon Best that November 2010 night, they were greeted at the door by a familiar face, me, who explained to them that it was no longer an Impros show, but a “Citiots” show. Same people…ish would perform, I told them, minus the “celebrity” element, and that it was up to them if they wanted to stay. They did.

The night was a success, with Luke, Dan, Phil and now Paul Nabuurs and I, along with Danny Bronson on the keys.

THIS THING IS GETTING REAL

May 2011. The same situation arises with Impros. Cancellations. But we improvise again with the same plan. We make it a Citiots show. Ray, Luke, Dan, Paul, Danny and Megan—and now with 17-year-old Kate Ethier as a guest. Result: Same happy audience.

June 2011. Why not actually PROMOTE an actual Citiots Show? Why not see if people want to come and see us? Ray, Dan, Kate, Danny, and now Kenn Gibb and Pat Maitland joined the fray. And people came. And people laughed. It was beautiful.

MOMENTUM BUILDS

Over the years now, we have performed (almost) every month at our homebase, the Gordon Best, as well as many other venues, private parties, fundraisers and corporate events. We have secured sponsorships from industry juggernauts, Steam Whistle Brewery and PTBOCanada.com. We have an official photographer, Jess Latone of J.Lee Photography. We received the Wire Award for “Best Performance Artist”, as voted by fans.

We have shared the stage with some of the Improv industry’s best, including Patrick McKenna, Linda Kash, Peter Wildman, and Mantown Improv (Canadian Comedy Award Winners for best Improv Troupe). We have brought local icons up on stage with us, including Paul Rellinger, Catherine Hanrahan, Caley Bedore, The Jobless boys, and Mike Judson. 

Our current lineup of Ray, Dan, Luke, Kenn, Paul, Kate, Mike, Danny and Andrew Root have been a unit since January 2014. We know that we owe it all to this amazing and incredibly supportive community who continually come out and share laughter and love with them.

Oh, and Paul O'Sullivan, thanks for your phone call. You changed our lives forever.

—written by Ray Henderson

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The Citiots next show is Friday, April 21st at 8 pm at Gordon Best Theatre. Learn more about them on their website.

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