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Key Facts |
Bridge Name |
Type | Road | Location | City | Crossing |
| Military Street Bridge | Bascule (Draw) | Military Street (I-94 BL) | St. Clair County, MI | Port Huron | Black River |
The Military Street Bridge is a rolling lift bascule bridge. This page is different from the other historic bridge pages, because I was able to arrange a tour of the inside of this bridge, which, like any movable bridge is a lot more than just a span over a river. Also, this bridge was built in the 90s, and is not even close to being historical. I feature this bridge on my webpage only because I found it interesting to compare the way this bridge works, compared to the historic Seventh Street Bridge. Clicking on the "View Photos" button will give you a detailed visual tour of the bridge.
As mentioned, the Military Street Bridge is not historical, and I hate this bridge. In fact, of the three bascule bridges in Port Huron, it is the most ugly of them all. There are zero aesthetics for this bridge. The Military bridge is the latest in a long history of spans at this location. One of these earliest spans was a wooden swing bridge. The next span was a beautiful metal through truss swing bridge. The through span gave Port Huron an awesome gateway into the city. The next span was a two leaf bascule bridge built in the 1910s. This bridge was the one the current span replaced. The main aesthetic quality of this bridge was the intricate, yet elegant guardrails that graced each side of the bridge. The bridge also featured wooden walkways on each side, a feature once seen on all three of the Port Huron bascule bridges, but now present only on the Seventh Street Bridge.
When the current span was built, MDOT was responsible for the monetary responsibilities, since the bridge was located on an Interstate Business Loop. All the latest in technology was used to build this highly computerized and hydraulics powered bridge. I am sure they assumed that all of this fancy stuff would make the bridge better than the old bridge. However, the new bridge has caused problems ever since the bridge was put into service. Sometimes when it got hot in the summer, they would have fireman come and hose the bridge down to keep it cool enough to operate! I wish they has simply restored the old bridge!
