It seems as if there's still some confusion about the two bascule bridges in San Francisco. The Third Street ("Lefty O'Doul") Bridge closely resembles the Johnson Street Bridge in Victoria, but is a few years younger than Victoria's bridge. The Fourth Street Bridge is a few years older than the Johnson Street Bridge, but it's a different design and does not resemble Victoria's bridge or the Third Street Bridge. It was the Fourth Street Bridge that underwent the controversial rehab to which Victorians often make reference. The Third Street Bridge was also repaired recently and the comparison to that bridge would seem to be much more relevant, but details seem to be lacking.
The confusion is perpetuated on this page:
http://johnsonstreetbridge.org/?p=117
Interesting tidbit: The link below indicates that the Third Street Bridge was once the third largest bridge of its type in the world.
http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WMJD5
Is this true? I have no idea. But if it
is true then I have to wonder how the Johnson Street Bridge ranked?
There's an older, similar-looking bascule bridge in Thunder Bay, Ontario that seems to be larger than the bridges in Victoria or San Francisco. If these three bridges are indeed of the same "type", then was Thunder Bay's Jackknife bridge the largest in the world for a time? The St. Charles Air Line Bridge in Chicago was apparently the
longest bascule bridge for some years before it was shortened. It's a few years older than Victoria's bridge. Were the St. Charles Air Line Bridge and Thunder Bay's Jackknife Bridge number one and number two? If so, which bridge was number three before San Francisco's Third Street Bridge came along? Victoria's bridge looks pretty bulky compared to many similar bascule bridges of that era. Kingston, Ontario also has a similar bascule bridge, and Kingston's bridge is older than Victoria's bridge. But it appears to be smaller (no rail bridge).
The New York Times had a lot to say about Chicago's St. Charles Air Line Bridge when it was built:
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive...B4678382609EDE
I suppose the determination of "largest" is rather subjective (longest lift span? heaviest? tallest superstructure?). And most of the bridges that closely resemble the Johnson Street Bridge seem to be roughly the same size.
But I'm still wondering if we may just have another historical reason to celebrate the Johnson Street Bridge.