McCabe Road Bridge

I discovered this bridge while on one of my very long bicycle trips. This particular trip was to Hell, MI! I took a detour to see what was down this road: I had noticed the curved alignment of this road on a map, which is typical of old bridges.

 Although they are out there, there are not many highway plate girder bridges. MDOT does indicate that the Michigan State Highway Department designed standard plans for plate girder bridges at some point. I am unsure if this bridge follows one of those plans. At either rate, this bridge was an unusual find. Plate girders were far more common on railroad bridges. This is a through plate girder. The ends of the bridge are sharp corners; other plate girders I have seen often will have curved ends. The bridge has rusted considerably. It has an 18-36-40 ton weight limit sign, which is more than enough for a dirt road like McCabe. When I acquired a Michigan historic bridge inventory, I was able to place a 1930 construction date on this bridge.