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| Key Facts |
| Bridge Name | Facility Carried / Feature Intersected | Location | Structure Type | Construction Date and Builder/Engineer | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
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Blue Water Bridge
Original/Westbound Span | I-69 and I-94 / KH-402 Over St. Clair River | Port Huron and Sarnia (Point Edward): St. Clair County, Michigan and Lambton County, Ontario | Metal Cantilever (Arched) Rivet-Connected Polygonal Warren Through Truss, Fixed and Approach Spans: Metal Rivet-Connected Warren Deck Truss, Fixed | 1938 By Builder/Contractor: American Bridge Company of New York, New York and Engineer/Design: Modjeski and Masters |
| Technical Facts |
| Rehabilitation Date | Main Span Length | Structure Length | Roadway Width | Main Spans | Approach Spans | NBI Number |
| 1999 | 871 Feet (265.4 Meters) | 6178 Feet (1883 Meters) | 32 Feet (9.75 Meters) | 3 | 64 | 77177111000B044 |
This bridge is a monumental cantilever bridge, connecting Port
Huron, MI and Sarnia, Ontario. Unlike many of the historic cantilever bridges
elsewhere in the country, such as those on the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers, the
Blue Water Bridge has always been a treasured part of the region, and both the
government agencies who own it and the general public have shown support for the
preservation of this historic bridge. So strong was this commitment, that the
demolition of this bridge was never even considered when it became clear
additional traffic lanes were needed. Instead, a second bridge was built next to
the historic bridge forming a one-way couplet of bridges. This preservation
solution sets an example for others to follow, and calls into question the
legitimacy of claims on the part of agencies who would claim that their historic
cantilever bridges can no longer serve traffic.
The Blue Water Bridge remains today as a functional and beloved part of the Blue Water region, and it is a central feature of the area where Lake Huron becomes the St. Clair River, this site being a popular tourist area. The bridge and waterway has been the backdrop for countless wedding photos, senior photos, etc.
Today, the Blue Water Bridge carries an incredible amount of traffic, including large numbers of fully loaded semi trucks, who often spend hours on the bridge waiting to pass through United States customs. One of the reasons a second bridge was constructed was to provide more traffic lanes and thus eliminate the fatigue and stress caused by having large numbers of trucks parked on half of the bridge for long periods of time. However, extreme shortsightedness and poor planning on the part of Michigan Department of Transportation led to a customs plaza that had been built being completely insufficient for the job even after hardly a decade of use. Therefore, the trucks continued to be stuck on the bridge even after a new bridge was built. There is now an enormous project underway to to replace the American plaza, which was built in the 1990s, with a much larger plaza.
Be sure to read the Historic American Engineering Record
(HAER) Data Pages for this
bridge to get a detailed history of the bridge and its construction. Their are
two separate HAER documentations. One is for the bridge itself, and it contains
an extensive history. The other is for the original customs/toll plaza, and that
documentation also has additional history, organized in a comprehensive timeline
format. Together, a comprehensive and detailed history of the Blue Water Bridge
is provided.
Also be sure to view the HAER photos. Taken before the second bridge was built and before the original plaza was demolished, these photos are a good compliment to the comprehensive set of present-day color photos that HistoricBridges.org is proud to provide. HistoricBridges.org also provides a captioned set of historical photos of the bridge's construction. The photos came from the Village of Point Edward, Ontario.
HistoricBridges.org did uncover one additional part of the Blue Water Bridge's history. Prior to the bridge being built, opinions on the location and design of the bridge were sought from a number of engineers and other involved people. Among those was Joseph Strauss. Pictured is a conceptual sketch showing a Blue Water Bridge proposal that Strauss Engineering had proposed. The bizarre bridge has a Port Huron approach that intersects with the cantilever at a 90 degree angle in the middle of the anchor arm. As such, there is an unused portion of the cantilever that is essentially a dead end. His proposal appears to be his solution to an interest on the part of Port Huron to have a bridge that connected directly to downtown Port Huron, while still having the cantilever part of the bridge cross at the narrowest point in the St. Clair River, which was north of downtown Port Huron. Ultimately, this proposal was rejected likely because of the bizarre approach design. Such as design would have been terribly inefficient, would have posed a safety hazard, and was also not aesthetically appealing.
Strauss is a name usually
associated with movable bridges, a field in which the company excelled. However,
Strauss was also involved in the design of the Golden Gate Bridge, another
monumental and fixed bridge, and equally as displaced from the world of movable
bridges as the Blue Water Bridge is. Strauss' initial proposal
for the Golden Gate Bridge, which was not accepted, was equally as bizarre as this
proposed Blue Water Bridge. His Golden Gate proposal was a hybrid bridge that
combined a cantilever truss with a suspension bridge. While it would have been a
fascinating bridge, it was aesthetically ugly, particularly in the perceptions
of the people living in that time. The final Golden Gate Bridge seen today was
in the end largely designed by a different engineer who Strauss hired. Like the
rejected Golden Gate Bridge proposal, The Strauss Blue Water Bridge proposal
shows an equally striking lack of attention to aesthetics, something that was
corrected in the accepted proposal presented by competitor engineers Modjeski
and Masters. The Strauss proposal suggests that Strauss was an engineer who did not have
as much experience with large fixed bridges, and struggled with the aesthetics
and design of such bridges. With the Blue Water Bridge, the aesthetics of the
bridge were a major consideration in the design of the bridge, and in many cases
played a larger role in the challenge of designing the bridge than did the
length of the span, which for the period was not a distance that had not been
bridged before.
| Additional Technical Facts |
| Structure Length (Excluding Plazas) | Main Spans | Approach Spans | Clearance Over St. Clair River | Maximum Height of Top Chord Over River |
| 6178 Feet / 1.17 Miles (1883 Meters / 1.88 Kilometers) | 3: 1 Central Cantilever Span at 871 Feet (265.4 Meters) and 2 Anchor Arm Spans at 326 Feet (99.4 Meters) Each | United States: 2283 Feet (696 Meters) Canada: 2657 Feet ( 810 Meters) - Total Approach Spans: 69 - Deck Plate Girder and Deck Truss. | 150 Feet (45.72 Meters) | 210 Feet (45.72 Meters) |
Cantilever bridges are the largest and most
complex form of truss bridge. The particular design of the Blue Water Bridge is
an extremely rare design that is usually called the "arch cantilever" type of
bridge. The Blue Water Bridge is among the oldest surviving examples of this
unique and distinctive bridge type variation. The arch cantilever design was
created to offer a more graceful and aesthetic alternative to the traditional
cantilever truss design that features two pointed cantilever towers that rise
above the suspended span. In the case of the arch cantilever truss, the towers
are essentially upside down, extending down from the deck to the piers. This
eliminates the pointy top chord design, and allows for a smoothly curved top
chord that is reminiscent of an arch. The suspended span is integrated into this
curve, and indeed casual viewers may not even notice that there is a suspended
span on the bridge, although for the close observer, pin connections give away
where the cantilever arms hold the suspended span in place.
The bridge has riveted connections and most beams on the bridge are built-up. V-lacing or lattice is present on nearly all built-up beams, with some exceptions such as on the diagonals and verticals on the first quarters of each end of the main navigation span. The structure was completed in 1938. The total weight of the steel and concrete in the bridge is 86,905 Tons. There are (originally) 2,228,000 rivets on the structure. These rivets alone total 500 tons. The bridge was rehabilitated in 1999. The bridge originally had two lanes and sidewalks, but the sidewalks were removed and the bridge converted to three lanes.
A large number of contractors and engineers were involved in the construction of the bridge as well as the original customs/toll plaza (demolished in the 1990s). The original plaque for the bridge, which was located on the original customs/toll plaza building, lists the involved companies. A number of very well known names in the bridge world had a part in the Blue Water Bridge. Two of the most prolific bridge builders in each respective country were contractors for the bridge: the American Bridge Company of New York, New York, and the Hamilton Bridge Company of Hamilton, Ontario. Also, the regionally prolific and noteworthy Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company of Milwaukee, Wisconsin was involved on the American side. On the Canadian side, a local bridge company, the Sarnia Bridge Company, was involved. As an international bridge, the construction of the bridge was unique and offers a unique view of the history of each country. Although a single bridge and project, each half of the bridge was built by the respective contractors in each country, and materials for each were acquired from their respective countries. As such, a larger number of members on the Canadian approaches were constructed as built-up beams, while many of the beams on the American side were rolled. This is because at the time, Canadian mills could not roll beams as large as the American side in an efficient manner.
The new bridge is a continuous tied arch and it carries eastbound traffic. The design was
selected after considerable public involvement as well as input from experts.
The arch design was chosen because it has a similar shape as the old bridge, and does not
interfere as much with the appearance of the area. For example, the general
public as well as the Michigan State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) made the very smart decision to cast aside an
alternative that would have constructed a mundane cable-stayed bridge.
Cable-stayed bridges are the most common type of long-span bridge being built
beginning in the late 20th, and indeed, the engineers wanted to build a
cable-stayed bridge for the second bridge, but SHPO and general public disgust
with this idea forced them to build the arch bridge. A
cable-stayed bridge would not have been unique, and its ugly, highly contrasted
appearance would have destroyed the unique beauty of the location that is one of
the top tourist destinations for the region. The selected arch bridge instead
maintains a similar profile and size. At the same time, it does not replicate
the historic bridge because doing so might create a false sense of history.
Further, even a so-called replica would have lacked key elements like rivets and
built-up beams, and as such would have been insulting to the beauty, history,
and engineering of the historic bridge. The two bridges stand as a
comparison to the intricacy of truss bridges, and the simplicity of modern
bridges.
Information and Findings From MDOT
The original Blue Water Bridge linking Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia,
Ontario was completed in 1938 at a cost of $4 million, financed jointly
by the State of Michigan and the Province of Ontario. This steel
cantilever bridge has a main span of 871 feet, anchor arms 326 feet
long, and approaches consisting of deck girder spans and two deck truss
spans adjoining the anchor arms on both the American and Canadian sides.
The American approach spans are 2283 feet in length, while the Canadian
approach is 2657 feet long, giving the bridge an overall length of 6463
feet. It is 38 feet wide, providing a roadway of 32 feet and two
sidewalks. Each of the two main piers consists of two caissons 26 feet
in diameter, whit eight foot dredging wells. These were sunk to rock 95
feet below water level. |
Click on a thumbnail or gallery name below to visit that particular photo gallery. If videos are available, click on a video name to view and/or download that particular video.
|
Structure Overview
Original / Full Size Photos |
A collection of overview photos that show the bridge as a whole and general areas of the bridge. For the best visual immersion and full detail, or for use as a desktop background, this gallery presents the photos for this bridge in the original digital camera resolution. |
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Structure Details
Original / Full Size Photos |
A collection of detail photos that document the parts, construction, and condition of the bridge. For the best visual immersion and full detail, or for use as a desktop background, this gallery presents the photos for this bridge in the original digital camera resolution. |
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Structure Overview
Mobile Optimized Gallery |
A collection of overview photos that show the bridge as a whole and general areas of the bridge. View the photos for this bridge in a reduced size which is useful for mobile/smartphone users, modem
(dial-up) users, or those who do not wish to wait for the longer
download times of the full-size photos. Alternatively, view this photo gallery using a popup slideshow viewer (great for mobile users) by clicking the link below.
Browse Gallery With Popup Viewer |
|
|
Structure Details
Mobile Optimized Gallery |
A collection of detail photos that document the parts, construction, and condition of the bridge. View the photos for this bridge in a reduced size which is useful for mobile/smartphone users, modem
(dial-up) users, or those who do not wish to wait for the longer
download times of the full-size photos. Alternatively, view this photo gallery using a popup slideshow viewer (great for mobile users) by clicking the link below.
Browse Gallery With Popup Viewer |
|
Historical Photos
Original / Full Size Photos |
A collection of historical photos of the bridge showing the construction of the bridge and the people who built it. For the best visual immersion and full detail, or for use as a desktop background, this gallery presents the photos for this bridge in the original digital camera resolution. |
|
|
Historical Photos
Mobile Optimized Gallery |
A collection of historical photos of the bridge showing the construction of the bridge and the people who built it. View the photos for this bridge in a reduced size which is useful for mobile/smartphone users, modem
(dial-up) users, or those who do not wish to wait for the longer
download times of the full-size photos. Alternatively, view this photo gallery using a popup slideshow viewer (great for mobile users) by clicking the link below.
Browse Gallery With Popup Viewer |
|
2nd Bridge Construction
Original / Full Size Photos |
A collection of photos that show the construction of the second span next to the historic bridge. For the best visual immersion and full detail, or for use as a desktop background, this gallery presents the photos for this bridge in the original digital camera resolution. |
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2nd Bridge Construction
Mobile Optimized Gallery |
A collection of photos that show the construction of the second span next to the historic bridge. View the photos for this bridge in a reduced size which is useful for mobile/smartphone users, modem
(dial-up) users, or those who do not wish to wait for the longer
download times of the full-size photos. Alternatively, view this photo gallery using a popup slideshow viewer (great for mobile users) by clicking the link below.
Browse Gallery With Popup Viewer |
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