AVON RIVER (NOVA SCOTIA)

The 'Avon River' is a small Canadian river in central Nova Scotia.
A northerly flowing river, the Avon River rises in the South Mountains southwest of the town of Windsor. Near the rural community of Martock, the river enters a broad glacial river valley and becomes tidal, creating an estuary for its remaining route to the Minas Basin several kilometres downriver from the town of Hantsport.

Contents

Causeway

See also

Causeway

In 1970 the Avon River was completely obstructed by a rock and earth fill causeway immediately downstream from Windsor at its junction with the St. Croix River as part of the development of a controlled access expressway called Highway 101.
The Avon River Causeway replaced an existing road bridge upriver from town and also resulted in the rerouting of the Dominion Atlantic Railway's Halifax-Yarmouth main line which used to run through Windsor's downtown, crossing the river on a bridge parallel to the road bridge immediately upriver from the town.
The causeway controls the Avon River's discharge and the incoming tidal waters of the Minas Basin through a series of flood control gates which are intended to regulate the river's flowage to prevent flooding of agricultural lands upriver near Martock. The section of the Avon River upriver of the causeway along the Windsor waterfront is now the freshwater Pesaquid Lake.
The construction of the causeway has dramatically affected the Avon River downstream from Windsor, with large parts of the once-navigable river now being obstructed by large mud flats and vegetation, owing to the lack of tidal exchange and freshwater discharge.
Recently announced plans for the expansion of Highway 101 between the Halifax Regional Municipality and the eastern end of the Annapolis Valley have raised concerns about maintaining the Avon River Causeway. An environmental lobby group, Friends of the Avon River, has called for studies into the possibility of removing the causeway entirely and carrying the expressway and railway line on a new bridge, allowing the natural flow of the river course to be reestablished.
A decision in August 2007 by the New Brunswick government to remove a similar causeway (constructed in 1968) blocking the Petitcodiac River (another tribuatary of the Bay of Fundy) to avoid facing charges under the federal ''Fisheries Act'' is expected to have ramnifications for the Avon River Causeway.

See also

★ Other River Avons