I live in a Border Town. I never really gave a lot of thought to all the implications of that until 9/11/01. Now my status as a Border resident means a lot more to me, especially when my midnight thoughts turn to all the bad things that could happen to our lovely little corner of the planet...
But we're not going to go into that now. As the second installment (!) of my Hometown Gems series, I give you one of North America's coolest pieces of practical architecture and engineering...the Blue Water Bridges that link the USA to Canada, South East Michigan to South West Ontario, and Port Huron to Sarnia! (The info below is abridged from the Wikipedia article with my own additions).
The first bridge (the one in the back in this picture) was opened to traffic on October 10, 1938. The lead engineer was
Ralph Modjeski. This bridge originally had two lanes for vehicles as well as sidewalks; the latter were removed in the 1980s to make room for a third lane for automobiles. The
third lane for each direction started from the apex of the bridge in order to accommodate long lineups entering each sides' respective border crossings.
In 1992, it was determined that traffic on the bridge had exceeded its rated capacity. The continuous-tied arch design, which was a distant third place in polls, was chosen for two reasons. One was that it blends in with the original span yet stands out on its own, and the other is lower maintenance costs because fewer spans are involved.
The twinning project was a combined effort between Modjeski & Masters (American engineers) and Buckland & Taylor Ltd. (Canadian engineers). During the construction, two temporary masts were erected to assist in the construction of the tied arch; the towers were painted red and lighted, enabling them to be seen from afar. The approaches to the new bridge use
box girders, compared to the original which hold up the road deck with trusses
.
The second three-lane bridge, just south of the first bridge, opened on July 22, 1997 (and was that ever a party!) The first bridge was immediately closed for extensive renovation, and reopened in 1999.
The first bridge is a cantilever
truss with a total length of
6,178 feet (1,883 m). The main span is
871 feet (265 m). The second bridge is a continuous tied
arch with a total length of
6,109 feet (1,862 m). The main span is
922 feet (281 m).
Together, the two bridges are one of the busiest transportation arteries between the
United States and
Canada, the second-busiest crossing after the
Ambassador Bridge at
Detroit-Windsor.
They also provide one of the four shortest routes of land travel between the eastern seaboard of the United States, and the central United States. The Blue Water Bridges are jointly owned and maintained by Canada and the United States.
The Blue Water Bridge Authority is in charge of the Canadian side, and the
Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is in charge of the U.S. side. The bridges charge a toll, which is used to pay for bridge maintenance and operations.
There are public lots and parks under both the American and Canadian sides of the bridge, and they are really popular.. It's a favorite lunch time place for everyone...pick up some fast food or ice cream, head down to the bridges and watch the water, the boats and your neighbors from another country! nPeople fish on both sides all year long, divers on the U.S. side have lots of fun, as do the sailboard clubs from Canada. There is a fine hotel right beside the Bridges on the American side, and a really nice Casino directly across from it in Canada! In the summer, we 'Yanks' congregate just north of them on July first to watch the Canada Day fireworks, and four days later, the 'Canucks' all head to Centennial Park to catch our Independence day show! Like all next-door neighbors, we know each other very well, and not at all. But for the most part we get along well together, and we're all fiercely proud of both our lands.
The picture I chose for this entry was taken by helicopter on the morning of the Port Huron to Mackinac Sailboat races, which is why there are scores of boats on the water. I'll give you more info on that madness later.
The newer bridge is for traffic from the U.S.A. to Canada, and the older span is for return traffic. While I can personally attest that being stuck on them for hours in the summer heat or the ice and wind of winter can be no fun at all, they are marvels of engineering, spectacular places to view the lake and two countries from and important cultural and economical ambassadors to all of North America. And I was born and raised three blocks from them.
Come and see them (and me) sometime!
