User:Alaney2k/Bridges of the West Don Valley

The Don River valley of Toronto, Ontario is an ancient natural glacial spillway. Because of the high discharges during the melting of ice sheets, a large amount of sedimentary land was displaced, causing a wide valley with steep sides. European settlers found the valley to be an ideal location to set up mills and local industry. Alongside the valley, the city of Toronto grew and numerous streets were needed and several crossed the Don River. Today there are several dozen bridges over the Don River; several are notable engineering achievements; several are abandoned bridges from settler times or abandoned roadways cut off during the construction of the Don Valley Parkway and Gardiner Expressway.

The bridges of the Don River can be classed into three separate classes:
 * railway bridges (serving the Canadian National Railway (CNR) and Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR)
 * roadway bridges
 * pedestrian bridges

Railways entered the Don River valley starting in the 1870s. The CPR entered the valley in the 1880s.

West Don bridges
North-east of the Leaside bridge, the Don River forks into east and west branches and Massey Creek. The West branch continues due north. These bridges cross the Don River west branch. The bridges are organized from south (location of the fork) to north.