• Saturday-What'sUP March 8 - 09:04 am

We visited the Big Mac earlier this week, so I figured I'd give equal time to the span that links Houghton and Hancock, too. Carl Schroeder took several photos of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge from an angle that many of us don't usually get to see. Between the blue railings there are the old railroad tracks that used to head under the bridge, but have now been converted to part of the snowmobile trail. It's a great alternative to safely cross over the canal without going on the ice, which can be dangerous and risky. The second shot is what the riders see as they're rounding that curve to go under the bridge. If I'm not mistaken, at night it's lit up under there, so it must seem somewhat like a going into a tunnel. Pretty neat!

Nice perspective!

The other perspective you can see year-round is the Bridge Cam, located across the street in the upper floor of a stately old home in the East Hancock neighborhood. Looks like a few snowmobilers in the Ramada lot this morning.

It's interesting to see the bridge from this angle. I've taken some photos of the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron from underneath, too. It gives a very different perspective. Nice pics!

Quite a bridge. Kathy, our nephew, and I crossed it while traveling the Lake Superior Circle Tour in 2005.

These grand pics of the H & H bridge reminds me of a question I've been pondering for a while. Why are they painting bridges blue these days? Our bridge here on the Mississippi that reaches between Savanna and Sabule is also blue. There must be a reason. Any body?

Good question -- I've seen a lot of blue-painted bridges as well (The Bluewater bridge comes especially to mind). I guess I always assumed it was some standard municipal paint, but maybe not.

Very nice photos, I'd love to see it and photograph it from inside the snowmobile track -- but I'd always be worried about getting run over!

Our snowmobile vacations routes have led us to cross this bridge many times back and forth. Snowmobiling the U.P. is a opportunity to see the area in a lot of ways you can't do by car. Especially the old railroad grades, riding those make your imagination ponder how it must have been if you were riding those trains of days gone by.

I love the Bridge pictures, today! Thank you!

How about a Bridge for All Seasons:

I remember when they painted it, there was a story in the paper. The MDOT folks did studies, and it seems that the color, Robin's egg blue, stands up very well to the sun and weather. It meant for less painting and a cost savings. Oddly enough, we were talking about building a bridge on Mt Hood at work Friday, and I went to this site to show the color as an example of it on this bridge.

YOu just can't go wrong with pictures of that bridge.

What the heck... here's another view of the bridge: B&W lift bridge in winter. I know I've posted one of my more colorful lift bridge pics on here before, but I prefer it in black and white. It feels more like winter...

Last I was there the Blue Water Bridge(s) was gray as in this view, somewhat what Cindy New Baltimore must mean.
But yes I've noted other bridges in this blue color which is very nice. I remember the Portage lift bridge being Gray, green & white, and way back when first built a reddish orange color!
I still think the beige and green of the Big Mac is pleasing.

Does anyone also feel as I do that the new flat stressed concrete bridges they are now building over most creeks and small rivers are so generic, mundane and ho-hum? Gone are the days of the steel girder country bridges with their charm, many built by the WPA, CCC in the depression. Over in nearby Macomb county one of those nostalgic quaint covered bridges like in days gone by was to be built over on Card Rd. near 24 Mile but last I heard with budget cuts etc. it was postponed. Sad.
However we may be seing more of bridge building & other projects again in these times to get people back to work!

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That Bridge is a work of art..no question...but BEST OF LUCK to Brian Cadwell and crew who are requesting and backing a second bridge from Chassell to Jacobsville! And after reading how in the event something should happen to the present bridge, there'd be access to the 2 hospitals on the Keweenaw Peninsula!

I surely back a second bridge..it would be a HUGE time saver for a lot of folk!

How does the little town of Jacobsville feel about having a bridge come in and out of their little town???

Beautiful pic, Russ, and I do love that area, also. Enjoy walking the boardwalk towards Marysville...so much energy coming from that St. Clair River with all the activity on it. The liners from all over the world are a sight to behold!

I love bridges. At the age of the current lift bridge I would be concerned about a new 2nd bridge being built.All of a sudden it would be way less urgent to maintain the lift bridge in the fashion they do now. They could even condemn it instead of repair to save money. then they redesignate the new bridge as US-41 and go years with out a "second" bridge. Does any body know the MDOT's expected life for the lift bridge?

I DISAGREE WITH THE COLOR BLUE FOR DURABILITY. FROM MY UNDERSTANDING. BLUE FADES FASTER THAN OTHER PIGMENTS. THE IRON OXIDE { RUST PIGMENT } IS THE MOST DURABLE ,AS WELL AS CHROMIUM COMPOUNDS, LIKE GREEN ARE BETTER. ANY OTHER PAINTERS HAVE COMMENTS??

Another good thing sbout this bridge in winter: It doesn't decide to go up when you are trying to get to work. Last summer I was eating lunch on a picnic table between the Library (the one wit books not beer)and the UPPCO building and someone asked me why the bridge had 2 levels.

It was a thrill for me to be up on top of the bridge, way up where the lights are. With a steel grate floor, to look down at your feet was a awesome feeling to see the bottom. We took the stairs on the Hancock side going down, but went up in the elevator which is on the Ripley side opposite side of stairs. Paul Hoyer and David Kane was with me. We did not sneak up there.

dan.....I'm not a painter but I too have always heard blue is the worst color for outside because of the weathering it receives. Today, though, so many things change so it could be a color enhanced by our chemical groups. Anyone else know the current information?

If any one is adventurous, there was an article in the Mining Gazette when they were painting the bridge and removing the old lead based paint. I believe it was in 94 or 95. My memory is not what it was, but that was the reason I remember being given at the time. As for me, I like the color of the Mackinaw bridge myself.

Remember when barns were painted with red oil based paint with iron oxide (rust) as the pigment; they lasted almost forever, especially if a little "red lead" was incorporated; it was a perservative for wood-rot and mold, plus an anti-termite compound.

I've read that at one time advertizers would paint your barn for free IF you allowed MAIL POUCH, BERMA SHAVE, or SEE ROCK CITY ads. If you have ever painted a barn you'd know why most folks jumped at the offer.

THE GOV. HAS OUTLAWED ALL NEW BILLBOARDS, OBVIOUSLY FROM PRESSURE FROM NEWSPAPERS, OTHER ADV.LOBBY, WITHOUT CONCERN FOR MOTELS % RESTAURANTS, TOURIST BUSINESS.

Are we broken?

It seems it is still Saturday in Pasty land.
A side effect of Daylight Saving Time?

33 years ago, I took a photo of the lift bridge from almost the exact same angle as the second photo above . . . .



The view was somewhat different then.

Rob Kitchen
Harrisburg, PA

33 years ago, I took a photo of the lift bridge from almost the exact same angle as the second photo above . . . .



The view was somewhat different then.

Rob Kitchen
Harrisburg, PA

33 years ago, I took a photo of the lift bridge from almost the exact same angle as the second photo above . . . .

Soo Line under lift bridge

The view was somewhat different then.

Rob Kitchen
Harrisburg, PA

Your picture with the train going across the bridge, closeup, is really cool, Rgkitchen! Thank you!