Blue Water Bridge
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The Blue Water Bridge connects Port Huron, Michigan with Sarnia, Ontario across the St. Clair River. The Blue Water Bridge connects with Highway 402 in Ontario and with both Interstate 69 and Interstate 94 in Michigan.
The first, three-lane bridge was opened to traffic on October 10, 1938. The lead engineer was Ralph Modjeski. A second three-lane bridge, just south of the first bridge, opened on July 22, 1997. The first bridge was renovated and reopened in 1999.
The first bridge is a cantilever truss with a total length of 6,178 feet. The main span is 871 feet. The second bridge is a continuous tied arch with a total length of 6,109 feet. The main span is 922 feet. During the debate over design, public opinion had mostly favoured a duplicate of the first bridge, while a cable-stayed design came in second. The Blue Water Bridge Authority had rejected both designs, due to the duplicate creating a false sense of history, while the cable-stayed option was feared to overshadow the existing bridge.
Together, the bridges are one of the busiest transportation arteries between the United States and Canada. They also provide one of the four shortest routes of land travel between the eastern seaboard of the U.S. and the central US.
The Blue Water Bridge featured in the 2000 movie "Bless the Child" starring Kim Basinger, where it represented a New York City bridge.
See also: List of bridges
External links
- Canadian Blue Water Bridge Authority (http://www.bwba.org/)
- Michigan Blue Water Bridge Information (http://www.michigan.gov/mdot/0,1607,7-151-9618_11070---,00.html)
- PDF: Construction History of the Blue Water Bridges (http://www.michigan.gov/documents/constrhistory_16062_7.pdf)
- Aerial photo of bridge, from Microsoft Terraserver (http://terraserver-usa.com/usgsentry.aspx?T=1&S=10&Z=17&X=1919&Y=23808&W=3&qs=%7cport+huron%7cmichigan%7c)