The Mat at the Bridge

[srt20]

Thanks for all the replies!

The post about catching a carbide and ending up in the drink had me a little worried cuz we will have a totally newbie sledder with us. We wont be riding fast or hard this weekend, and I never giv'er in a town anyway. But as long as there is a guardrail we should be fine.

A couple of years ago, my brother hooked a carbide on a RR crossing on a major highway down here. He fell off and his sled did a complete roll and landed in the middle of the road in traffic. Nobody got hurt(except his ego) and no cars hit the sled. That section of trail runs along the road for a few miles close to a town, all the cars stopped while he got it outta the road, and by the time he was 1/2 mile away he saw a couple squads and a EMS heading to the RR crossing. He said he was only going about 10 mph, but it caught and flipped so fast he didnt even understand what had happened at first.

Last year I had a buddy fold a Edge trailing arm in half on a different set of tracks down here. He gave it gas to cross and let off right before the skis got on the tracks. Gotta be smooth and steady on them darn RR tracks. I imagine the same will hold true for the bridge.

 

[thunderstruck88]

Darn thought you all was talking about the"Mighty Mac" I love that bridge and it's a treasure to have up there or I would of never gotten to Copper Harbor ever and thats God's country Have a great day ya'll and THINK SNOW + ROCK + ROLL + CHRISTMAS FUDGE!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Admin]

It got posted on another thread, but I incorrectly said we did not have to wait until shipping season to be over. I was at a meeting last night and think I got the skinny on things.

It's sort of left up to the local Coast Guard station (Portage) to decide, but as long as they are keeping their boats in the water and the shipping season is going on, then the bridge would have to be put up in the event the CG needs to get by it.

In some past years, the CG has not kept their equipment in the water all the way to the end of shipping season (Dec 15 I was told at the meeting last night) and in those years the mat goes down prior to the end of the shipping season.

So I guess we just have to wait until either the end of the shipping season, or when ever the CG Portage station decides the waterway is no longer navigable and pull their equipment out. Then the cities can be notified to drop the snow and it can be groomed into a mat for crossing.

The bottom line is you can cross now, but there is no snow on the lower deck of the bridge and you cannot cross on the upper deck where the cars travel in the winter.

-John

 

[favoritos]

Thanks for the update Mr Administrator.

I can imagine why there is confusion with the shipping season. Seems like there a freighters on the big lake for half the winter. We often see them moving at the Duluth Harbor while passing through on the way to God's country.

Srt20, the bridge is easier than RR tracks. It is a flat crossing. Your buddies trailing arms should be just fine. It does look intimidating for a rookie though. You will be riding on steel mesh and looking down at the water. Not to mention all the noise.

 

[Trees4Traction440]

Thanks for all the replies!

The post about catching a carbide and ending up in the drink had me a little worried cuz we will have a totally newbie sledder with us. We wont be riding fast or hard this weekend, and I never giv'er in a town anyway. But as long as there is a guardrail we should be fine.


---Ya that comment was pointless about going into the drink from catching a carbide. You will be riding on a bridge deck thats used as a roadway in the warmer months. You could roll a sled over and not fall in! lol HAPPY SLEDDING!