The Barra Strait Bridge is a Canadian road bridge crossing the Barra Strait of Bras d'Or Lake, carrying Nova Scotia Route 223 between Iona, Victoria County, on the West side, and Grand Narrows, Cape Breton County (Cape Breton Regional Municipality) on the east side. The bridge incorporates a double leaf bascule section at its eastern end to permit the continued passage of marine traffic through the strait. History Ferry service A ferry service operated across the Barra Strait, between Grand Narrows and Iona, starting in 1847, and continued for the next 146 years. In the late 1880s the Intercolonial Railway of Canada bridged the strait with the Grand Narrows Bridge (also known as the Barra Strait Railway Bridge), which is still the longest railway bridge in the province, crossing between Uniacke Point to the west and Kelly Point to the east. The Nova Scotia Department of Highways took over the Barra Strait motor vehicles ferry service in 1927 and continued the service between Grand Narrows and Iona. By the late 1980s the ferry service was carrying over 90,000 vehicles a year across the Barra Strait. The C. Monty MacMillan was the last ferry used for the Grand Narrows–Iona crossing, in service from 1971 to 1993. Permanent crossing announced On 21 April 1979, in a public meeting held in Iona, the then Premier of Nova Scotia, John Buchanan announced that a permanent crossing over the Barra Strait would be built, to be completed within four years. Both a high level bridge and a causeway with an opening span were to be considered, with the high span estimated to cost $20 million, and the causeway and swing bridge option, $15 million. Bridge design Planning for the new Barra Strait Crossing was carried out during 1983-85 by Fenco Engineers who had the contract for the bridge design. The structure was designed by the structural engineering department at Fenco (Fenco was later bought out by Lavalin which eventually merged with Surveyer, Nenniger & Chenevert Consulting Engineers (SNC) to become SNC-Lavalin). The Barra Strait Bridge is a girder bridge design, consisting of steel girders with a reinforced concrete deck, supported on reinforced concrete piers. The bridge incorporates a double leaf bascule section at its eastern end to permit the continued passage of marine traffic through the strait. Fenco Engineers also designed the mechanical equipment for operating the lift mechanism for the two leaves of the