Cut River Bridge is a cantilevered steel deck bridge over the Cut River in the

Upper Peninsula The Upper Peninsula of Michigan—also known as Upper Michigan or colloquially the U.P. or Yoop—is the northern and more elevated of the two major landmasses that make up the U.S. state of Michigan; it is separated from the Lower Peninsula b ...

of the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...

Michigan Michigan ( ) is a peninsular U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, Upper Midwestern United States. It shares water and land boundaries with Minnesota to the northwest, Wisconsin to the west, ...

. It is located along U.S. Highway 2 (US 2) in Hendricks Township, Mackinac County, between Epoufette and Brevort, about northwest of St. Ignace and the

Straits of Mackinac The Straits of Mackinac ( ; ) are the short waterways between the U.S. state of Michigan's Upper and Lower Peninsulas, traversed by the Mackinac Bridge. The main strait is wide with a maximum depth of , and connects the Great Lakes of Lake M ...

. There is a long wooden staircase to the valley below that was constructed some time after the construction of the bridge itself. On the east end of the bridge, there is an office door built under the main structure with a brass plaque inscribed "T. Troll". The bridge was built in 1947 and is one of only two cantilevered deck truss bridges in Michigan, it is long and contains of structural steel. The bridge carries traffic on US 2 above and spans the Cut River Valley, below. The second cantilevered bridge in Michigan is the Mortimer E. Cooley Bridge on M55 over the Pine River in Manistee County. It is a metal cantilever 12 panel rivet connected Pratt Deck Truss fixed bridge built in 1934 and rehabilitated in 1989. Its structure length is 613 feet, with a span of 300 feet. The Cut River Bridge and the Cooley Bridge are twins in appearance.

History

The State Highway Department designed this structure, and W.J. Meagher and Sons, Contractors, built it. Actual construction began in 1941. Due to the demand for steel during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, construction on the bridge was halted until after the war. Legislation passed in 2014 by the

Michigan Legislature The Michigan Legislature is the legislature of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is organized as a bicameral body composed of the Senate (the upper chamber) and the House of Representatives (the lower chamber). Article IV of the Michigan Con ...

named the bridge after Heath Michael Robinson, a fallen member of the

Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command. Among the SEALs' main funct ...

who was killed on August 6, 2011 in Wardak, Afghanistan when their Chinook helicopter came under fire.

Construction

The bridge is a steel deck

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

. The structure has extensive latticing on its members, which are all very massive. The bridge retains original standard-plan metal guardrails on the sidewalks that flank the roadway on each side.

References

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External links

* {{Commons category, Cut River Bridge, position=left Road bridges in Michigan Buildings and structures in Mackinac County, Michigan Bridges completed in 1947 Steel bridges in the United States Truss bridges in the United States Transportation in Mackinac County, Michigan Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System U.S. Route 2 Cantilever bridges in the United States