 At some point between 1861 and 1863 the main center section of the bridge collapsed.During a town meeting in 1864, Dumble revealed the successful trickery and sabotage, but offered an optimistic note that the C&PRy still had a shorter route than the Port Hope line, and ended at a better harbour.When Covert was questioned, he claimed that he had removed the iron works for safekeeping, because everyone knew the bridge was going to collapse anyway.