The Portage Lake Lift Bridge (officially the Houghton–Hancock Bridge) connects the cities of

Hancock Hancock may refer to: Places in the United States * Hancock, Iowa * Hancock, Maine * Hancock, Maryland * Hancock, Massachusetts * Hancock, Michigan * Hancock, Minnesota * Hancock, Missouri * Hancock, New Hampshire ** Hancock (CDP), New Hampshir ...

and

Houghton Houghton may refer to: Places Australia * Houghton, South Australia, a town near Adelaide * Houghton Highway, the longest bridge in Australia, between Redcliffe and Brisbane in Queensland * Houghton Island (Queensland) Canada * Houghton Townshi ...

, in the US state of Michigan. It crosses Portage Lake, a portion of the waterway which cuts across the

Keweenaw Peninsula The Keweenaw Peninsula ( , sometimes locally ) is the northernmost part of Michigan's Upper Peninsula. It projects into Lake Superior and was the site of the first copper boom in the United States, leading to its moniker of "Copper Country." As o ...

with a canal linking the final several miles to

Lake Superior Lake Superior in central North America is the largest freshwater lake in the world by surface areaThe Caspian Sea is the largest lake, but is saline, not freshwater. and the third-largest by volume, holding 10% of the world's surface fresh wa ...

to the northwest. US Highway 41 (US 41) and M-26 are both routed across the bridge. It is the only land-based link between the north (so-called

Copper Island Copper Island is a local name given to the northern part of the Keweenaw Peninsula (projecting northeastward into Lake Superior at the western end of the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, United States of America), separated from the rest of the Kewe ...

) and south sections of the Keweenaw peninsula. In June 2022, it was dedicated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. This

moveable bridge A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with , and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical d ...

is a

lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...

with the middle section capable of being lifted from its low point of four feet clearance over the water to a clearance of to allow boats to pass underneath. The bridge is the world's heaviest and widest double-decked vertical-lift bridge. More than 35,000 tons of concrete and 7,000 tons of steel went into the bridge, which replaced the narrow 54-year-old swing bridge, declared a menace to navigation on the busy Keweenaw Waterway. Hancock and Houghton hold an annual celebration called Bridgefest to commemorate the opening of the bridge which united their two communities.

History

The original bridge on the same site was a wooden

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

built in 1875. The bridge was built by James P. Edward of Fox and Howard Inc. of Chicago. Three local men raised $47,000 in stocks for the toll bridge. Construction began in the spring of 1875 and was finished in the spring of 1876. This was replaced by a steel swing bridge, the Portage Canal Swing Bridge, built by the

King Bridge Company The King Iron Bridge & Manufacturing Company was a late-19th-century bridge building company located in Cleveland, Ohio. It was founded by Zenas King (1818–1892) in 1858 and subsequently managed by his sons, James A. King and Harry W. King an ...

in 1895. The Portage Canal Swing Bridge was damaged when a ship, the Northern Wave, collided with it in 1905. The center swinging section of the bridge was replaced and a similar incident almost occurred again in 1920, but the ship was able to stop by dropping its anchor, which snagged on the bottom of the lake. In 1959, the Portage Canal Swing Bridge was replaced, at a cost of about $11-13 million (sources vary), by the current bridge. The Al Johnson Construction Company was the general contractor. The

American Bridge Company The American Bridge Company is a heavy/civil construction firm that specializes in building and renovating bridges and other large, complex structures. Founded in 1900, the company is headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pitt ...

built the superstructure and

Bethlehem Steel The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. For most of the 20th century, it was one of the world's largest steel producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its succe ...

provided the structural steel. The original 1959 design by Hazelet and Erdal of Chicago of the bridge's liftspan had roadways constructed on both levels with rails embedded in the road surface on the lower deck. This allowed the span to be partially raised to allow small and medium boat traffic to pass underneath without disrupting vehicular traffic. From this middle position, the span would then only need to be raised for large ships or lowered to allow trains to cross. With the end of rail service in 1982, the lowest position is no longer needed to allow trains to pass so the bridge is not lowered below the middle position during the summer boating season except for periods of maintenance or repair. In the winter after the lake freezes, the bridge is placed in the lowest position to allow the lower deck to be used by snowmobile traffic.

Images

File:Keweenaw Waterway Night.jpg, Frozen Keweenaw Waterway at night File:Portage Lake Lift Bridge(Night).JPG, The Portage Lake Lift Bridge at night File:HoughtonHancockBridgeUS41M26.jpg, Looking north while crossing bridge File:Portage Lake Lift Bridge Elevated.JPG, Elevated to let boats pass underneath File:More Copper Country Limited Photos (27482497891).jpg, The

Copper Country Limited The ''Copper Country Limited'' was a passenger train operated by the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad (the "Milwaukee Road") and the Duluth, South Shore and Atlantic Railway (DSS&A) between Chicago, Illinois and Calumet, Michiga ...

crossing the Portage Lake Lift Bridge in 1967 Portage Lake Lift Bridge 2020-1409.jpg, View from

File:Portage Lake Lift Bridge, May 2016.png, View showing lower deck looking toward

References

External links

{{commons category
Keweenaw Crossing: Michigan's Elevator Bridge - Michigan Department of Transportation video

Michigan Tech Bridge Cam

Portage Lake BridgeCam

Bridgefest Website

City of Hancock Bridge History Page

Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Buildings and structures in Houghton County, Michigan Road bridges in Michigan Towers in Michigan Vertical lift bridges in the United States Bridges completed in 1959 Transportation in Houghton County, Michigan Former toll bridges in Michigan Lake Superior Circle Tour U.S. Route 41 Steel bridges in the United States M-26 (Michigan highway) Road-rail bridges in the United States Hancock, Michigan Houghton, Michigan

History

Images

See also

References

External links