18 1/2 Mile Road Bridge

Key Facts

Bridge Name	Facility Carried / Feature Intersected	Location	Structure Type	Construction Date / Builder or Contractor
18 1/2 Mile Road Bridge	18 1/2 Mile Road Over I-94	Rural: Calhoun County, Michigan	Concrete Curved T-Beam, Stationary	1960 By: Holloway Construction Company

Technical Facts

Structure Length	Roadway Width	Minimum Vertical Underclearance	Main Spans	Approach Spans
227 Feet (69.2 Meters)	24 Feet (7.3 Meters)	16 Feet (4.85 Meters)	4	None

It is expressway bridges like this that help turn a boring expressway drive into a beautiful look into historic bridge design. Curved t-beam bridges like this one were built in the late 50s and early 60s, and are among the last bridges built in Michigan to incorporate aesthetics as a major part of the design. This aesthetic detail can be seen in the railings and the elegant curved nature of the beams. The curved beams also served to increase vertical clearance on the bridge.

With a construction date of 1960, this bridge will not be old enough to be eligible for the national register of historic places until 2010. This bridge is a good example of curved t-beam construction on I-94. MDOT has recently been going around and bolting modern Armco railings to a number of these bridges. Any bridges that remain without these railings added stand out as having a greater level of historic significance.

This section of I-94 is a high priority NAFTA corridor as well as just a plain busy expressway. If MDOT were to upgrade this highway, which has a high accident and fatality rate, to three lanes, many bridges would likely be demolished. It is possible however, that these t-beams would be able to stay. Sigler Road Bridge on I-75 holds three lanes under it.