Bridge Closed

H

HardwaterHoosier

Member
Surprised nobody is speaking of the bridge closure tonight. Text saying the bridge wasn't expected to open until morning, came through a few hours ago
 
F

frnash

Active member
Current Mackinac Bridge Conditions - Live link

From the Mackinac Bridge Authority, a live link (click →) Current Mackinac Bridge Conditions.
Motorists are advised to reduce their speed to 20 miles per hour as they approach the bridge and be prepared to stop. Bridge personnel are stationed at both ends of the structure to provide instructions.

The Mackinac Bridge Authority is monitoring the conditions at various points along the structure. When conditions improve, the bridge will be reopened to traffic. If you are planning to travel to the Straits area, please tune to AM 530 or 1610.
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More info, see (click →) Text alerts now available for Mackinac Bridge closures.
With the assistance of Mackinac County 911/Emergency Management, you can sign up now for Mackinac Bridge Authority (MBA) text updates when the bridge is closed for poor weather or high winds, and when it reopens. Mackinac County 911, using its RAVE Alert System, will send updates and information from the MBA to users’ cell phones any time the bridge has a partial or full closure due to weather or other conditions. Messages also will be sent when a full closure is reduced to a partial closure or when the bridge reopens to all traffic. (See above link for details.)
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F

frnash

Active member
snake said:
From a source in the know.... closed due to falling ice from above
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As a matter of fact, that was it exactly.
Just FWIW, the live link to the Current Mackinac Bridge Conditions looked like this from yesterday afternoon until early today:
BigMacClosed-FallingIce.jpg
(Click thumbnail for larger image.)

I guess I should have posted that earlier.

I haven't heard of that happening before, tho' I can't imagine it hasn't. I sure wouldn't want to see someone's car skewered by a 2000 lb. icicle!

 That could be far worse than the old days (before 1957), parking on the dock while waiting for one of the old car ferries.
During deer season that was often a "Walmart parking lot" with a wait of many hours — even with every available one of the old railroad ferries pressed into service for moving automobiles, including my old favorite, the foul black smoke belching last coal-fired 'hand-bomber', the venerable (click →) SS Chief Wawatam.[SUP]1[/SUP]

This kind of a "falling ice" event could involve a wait of a day or more!

Closed due to falling ice, for the first time in 60+ years? Really?
Has anyone else heard of that happening ever before?
[SUP]1[/SUP] See also, Wikipedia: SS Chief Wawatam.




 
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gary_in_neenah

gary_in_neenah

Super Moderator
Staff member
"One of the Chief's triple-expansion engines was withheld from salvage and, after being restored to operating condition, was placed on display in 2005 at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin." Wikipedia

I've seen this engine displayed in Manitowoc. It's huge, at least two story's tall. Also found it interesting the use of the Bow Propellor and using gravity to break the ice. Somebody was using their head with that idea.
 
F

frnash

Active member
gary_in_neenah said:
"One of the Chief's triple-expansion engines was withheld from salvage and, after being restored to operating condition, was placed on display in 2005 at the Wisconsin Maritime Museum in Manitowoc, Wisconsin." Wikipedia

I've seen this engine displayed in Manitowoc. It's huge, at least two story's tall. Also found it interesting the use of the Bow Propellor and using gravity to break the ice. Somebody was using their head with that idea.
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Yes, some engines they were! See the (click →) Wisconsin Maritime Museum's Chief Wawatam Steam Engine here.
Step into the engine room of a Great Lakes ship in the early 1900s and see a 65-ton steam engine come to life under your control. Built in 1911, this powerful triple-expansion steam engine was used by the ice-breaking carferry Chief Wawatam to transport passengers, vehicles and rail cars across the Straits of Mackinac.
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Shades of the (click →) RMS Titanic's two reciprocating four-cylinder, triple-expansion steam engines!
No surprise, the Chief and the Titanic were in fact contemporaries(!):
Titanic, launched: 31 May 1911.
The Chief, launched August 26, 1911.

Hand firing those coal burning triple expansion engines ( whether on the Titanic or the Wawatam ) would qualify as real (click →) "Dirty Jobs"!
Reminiscing:
The long hours spent on the docks in the summer — a picnic in the park(-ing lot)!
Mom used to pack a lunch, and occasionally a vendor would come by selling, yes … pasties!
Waiting for the ferry#1.jpg Waiting for the ferry#2.jpg
(Click thumbnails for larger images.)

Then there were the deer season trips as mentioned above, trying to stay warm on the even longer waits in weather conditions far less conducive to picnicking!

As a (pre-teen) youngster crossing the Straits on the old railroad ferries, I couldn't resist being out on "promenade" deck as the ferry departed — in spite of gagging and choking in the copious volumes of the foulest, blackest smoke you could imagine — especially when instead of rising, that foul smoke just curled around, roiling across her decks!
SS Chief Wawatam with steam up .jpg
(Click thumbnail for larger image.)

… and they'd catch me by surprise every time with the blast of that whistle. I'd nearly jump out of my skin! (Whistle? That hardly describes her incredibly loud, deep bass note; you could really feel that one in your bones.)

Great memories, and I'm glad I was there, but I sure don't miss those long waits or the ferry crossings themselves, particularly not that black smoke on the Chief.

Boatnerd has a profusion of great photos and more (click →) about the Chief here.
Photos on this page courtesy of Pasty Cam.
 
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R

renegade

Active member
Interesting stuff there frnash. I wonder if there is any video of the ice falling. That would be something to see!
 
F

frnash

Active member
renegade said:
Interesting stuff there frnash. I wonder if there is any video of the ice falling. That would be something to see!
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Fire up my curiosity will ya? :smile:

If you go to (click →) YouTube,
then put "Ice falls from Mackinac bridge" in the search box at the top of that page,
you will find a few interesting videos, for example here's what I found just now:

  1. (click →) Ice falling from bridge towers
    (10 sec.) Mackinac Bridge Published on Jan 26, 2016.
  2. (click →) Mackinac Bridge Falling Ice video from bridge deck (Video 1)
    (52 sec.) Mackinac Bridge Published on Jan 27, 2016
  3. (click →) Mackinac Bridge Falling Ice video from bridge deck (Video 2)
    (14 sec.) Mackinac Bridge Published on Jan 27, 2016

    and this about today's event:
  4. (click →) Mackinac Bridge reopens after nearly 20-hour closure
    (3min. + 25sec.) American Today News Published on Jan 27, 2018

    as well as some relevant historical events:
  5. (click →) Mackinac Bridge Closed to Travelers for Falling Ice
    (1 min. + 37 sec.) Blayke Roznowski Published on Jun 9, 2017
  6. (click →) Mackinac Bridge Michigan during high wind storm sway Mackinaw City
    (2 min. + 53 sec.) Ron Williams Published on Jan 28, 2016
Doing this research I picked up these further interesting bits as well, from the Official Mackinaw Area Visitors Bureau 's
(click →) 17 Things You May Not Know about Pure Michigan’s Mackinac Bridge. (Relevant paragraphs are quoted below.)

  1. While television star Mike Rowe of (click →) "Dirty Jobs" missed his chance at hand firing the coal burning triple expansion engines on the SS Chief Wawatam:
    12. In 2007, television star Mike Rowe brought is Dirty Jobs crew to film a segment about the Mighty Mac. They went down below the water’s surface and high above the Straits to capture the true essence of this amazing bridge. You can still watch the episode online.
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  2. I answered my earlier question: ("Closed due to falling ice, for the first time in 60+ years? Really?
    Has anyone else heard of that happening ever before?")
    15. Each winter, ice forms on the cables and towers of the Mackinac Bridge, usually from freezing rain. When winds increase or temperatures rise, that ice can dislodge suddenly, sending sheets or spears of ice cascading down to the bridge deck below. Because of these dangers, the Mackinac Bridge Authority occasionally closes the bridge temporarily. When the bridge is closed due to falling ice, it’s a guessing game as to when it can be reopened. During the longest falling ice closure – 15 hours and 45 minutes on April 11 and 12, 2017 – temperatures hovered around freezing and new ice was forming on the bridge as soon as other ice broke free. The shortest closure was 37 minutes on Nov. 29, 2001. The bridge has closed 16 times for falling ice since 1995.
    Click to expand...
    So much to learn, so little time!
 
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