PORTAGE LAKE LIFT BRIDGE

The 'Portage Lake Lift Bridge' connects the cities of Hancock and Houghton, Michigan by crossing over the Portage Waterway, an arm of Portage Lake which cuts across the Keweenaw Peninsula with a canal linking the final several miles to Lake Superior to the northwest. US 41 and M-26 are both routed across the bridge.
The original bridge on this site was a wooden bridge built in 1875. This was replaced by a steel bridge built by the King Bridge Company in 1901. This bridge was damaged when a ship collided with it in 1905. Repairs were made to the bridge but were unable to fully restore it. In 1959, this bridge was replaced, at a cost of about 11-13 M USD (sources vary), by the current bridge which was built by the American Bridge Company.

As its name states, the bridge is a lift bridge with the middle section capable of being lifted from its low point of four feet clearance over the water to a clearance of 100 feet to allow boats to pass underneath. The Portage Lake Lift Bridge is the widest and heaviest double decked vertical lift bridge in the world.
The lower deck of the bridge was originally open to rail traffic, but this level is now a road and it is raised up to road level in the summer for cars. This is done so that smaller boats may pass below without needing to disrupt car traffic. It is lowered in the winter, when ice prevents boats, for snowmobile traffic that can enter under the roadway.
Hancock and Houghton hold an annual celebration called Bridgefest to commemorate the opening of the bridge which united their two communities.

Contents

External links

External links

★ Michigan Tech Bridge Cam

★ Portage Lake BridgeCam

★ Bridgefest Website

★ Aerial photo of bridge, from Microsoft Terraserver

★ City of Hancock Bridge History Page

★ King Bridge Company older bridge history page

★ Byways.org Claims bridge is heaviest/widest double deck lift bridge in world.

★ Michigan Department of Transportation page

★ Copper Range historical society information