Heavy snow and difficult travel expected again, heaviest snow in southern Minnesota

MPR News helps you turn down the noise and build shared understanding. Turn up your support for this public resource and keep trusted journalism accessible to all. 

Turn Up Your Support

A railway bridge in Ontario — just north of the Minnesota border — collapsed Wednesday, blocking rail and boat traffic.

Local officials and CN Railway said there were no reports of injuries. The collapse did not happen while a train was crossing.

The span is known as the Five-Mile Bridge, crossing a channel of Rainy Lake a few miles northeast of Fort Frances. It’s on a rail line linking the CN network to the Port of Thunder Bay, and does not affect the main rail line crossing the border at Fort Frances and Ranier.

 showed part of the bridge that allowed it to lift, to let larger boats pass underneath, collapsed and caused damage to the tracks. The 

Rainy Lake Property Owners Association Facebook post

CN Railway said Thursday that crews have started repair work, but the bridge remains closed for now. 

The railway also said that “environmental crews have contained and are recovering a release of biodegradable, non-toxic hydraulic oil related to the incident.” CN thanked local first responders for their response to the collapse.

With the bridge unable to open, barges and large boats are not able to traverse between the southern and northern parts of Rainy Lake, a sprawling body of water covering more than 200,000 acres along the international border.

The operator of a boat taxi service used to shuttle people and goods around the lake 

 that the bridge collapse will have a significant effect on the business.

Disasters

NewsPartners

Homepage

MPR News Staff

Author

A railway bridge in Ontario — just north of the Minnesota border — collapsed Wednesday, blocking rail and boat traffic. The span is known as the Five-Mile Bridge, and crosses a channel of Rainy Lake.

Bridge collapse closes Ontario rail line, just north of Minnesota border

Go Deeper.

Like this?