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Key Facts |
| Bridge Name | Facility Carried / Feature Intersected | Location | Structure Type | Construction Date / Builder or Contractor |
| Gratiot Avenue Pine River Bridge | Gratiot Avenue Over Pine River | Rural: St. Clair County, Michigan | Metal Stringer, Stationary | 1931 By: E. C. Nolan and Son |
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Technical Facts |
| Structure Length | Roadway Width | Main Spans | Approach Spans |
| 123 Feet (37.5 Meters) | 40 Feet (12.2 Meters) | 2 | None |
This bridge is in poor shape, yet is still important as a visible remnant of a major highway and a unique traffic engineering experiment. Although a locally owned-two lane road, prior to the completion of nearby I-94, Gratiot was US-25, and a major highway in the area. The design of the roadway changed in the 1930s after when the bridges like this one were completed. The design was two lanes with a center lane. However, this center lane was not designed for left turns, it was designed for passing. The result, as one might expect was a lot of deadly head-on collisions as a result of this system. Today, the road is a normal two-lane road, however observant travelers will notice that these bridges are very wide for their age. While modern two-lane bridges might be 40 feet wide, a 1930s two-lane bridge was never this wide.
