Pictured here in 1970 is a Link-Belt LS series crawler crane at work on a bridge job in Southwestern Ontario.
McLean-Foster Construction Ltd., based in St. Mary’s, Ontario, had completed the bridge replacement portion of the contract and was well into demolition of the old iron bridge. The Link-Belt crane is seen here loading parted-out steel bridge sections onto a float for transport.
McLean-Foster began operations in 1947 with municipal contracts and are still at it more than 70 years later.
By 1983, Robert Taylor was president, hence the company name change to McLean-Taylor Construction Ltd. Â
Under his direction, the company expanded taking on municipal and Ministry of Transportation bridge contracts throughout Ontario.
By the 1950s, Link-Belt had opened a branch plant in Woodstock, Ontario to service the Canadian market manufacturing several of the LS Series cable operated machines. By the late 60s, the plant was producing the Link-Belt LS 4000 and LS 5000 series hydraulic excavators alongside cranes.
The Woodstock plant ceased operations in the early 1980s as did many other Ontario shovel manufacturers of the era, including Bucyrus-Erie in Guelph and Koehring Ltd. in Brantford. Â
To see more than 60 restored pieces of vintage construction equipment in action, be sure to attend Historical Construction Equipment Association (HCEA) Canada’s 2019 Last Blast Event on Saturday, October 19, held at the Simcoe County Museum near Barrie, Ont.
HCEA Canada is a Proud Community Heritage Partner of the Simcoe County Museum.
