The Portage Lake (Houghton/Hancock) Bridge is out of service!

[frnash]

From MQT NWS (and other sources):

MIC061-083-042230-

BULLETIN - EAS ACTIVATION REQUESTED
CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE
MICHIGAN EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT AGENCY MARQUETTE MICHIGAN
RELAYED BY NATIONAL WEATHER SERVICE MARQUETTE MI
323 PM EDT WED AUG 4 2010

...CIVIL EMERGENCY MESSAGE...

THE FOLLOWING MESSAGE IS TRANSMITTED AT THE REQUEST OF THE HOUGHTON COUNTY EMERGENCY MANAGER. THE PORTAGE LAKE LIFT BRIDGE IS STUCK IN THE UP POSITION. CITIZENS ARE ENCOURAGED TO AVOID THE HOUGHTON AND HANCOCK AREA AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE TO AVOID TRAFFIC CONGESTION. ADDITIONAL UPDATES ON THIS SITUATION WILL FOLLOW LATER TODAY.

$$

JLA

Image from MTU Web Cams:

See also, this message from PastyCam:

 

[frnash]

The bridge is open for traffic again at 5:17 pm.

[FONT=Verdana,Arial,Helvetica]From PastyCam:
The bridge is now open for traffic at 5:17 pm [/FONT]

 

[frnash]

Of course you know what the problem is with the bridge, and the solution, don'cha?

Too much hot weather, not enough snow!

An early winter is needed, and soon, to keep the steel from expanding and causing the bridge to jam!

 

[mezz]

You hit the nail on the head! Aside from needing (wanting) some cooler temps, we actually could use a second bridge, one that does not require a lift span, this way, nobody gets stuck & emergency services aren't hampered. This has happened a number of times in the past, you would think someone would get the message by now.-Mezz

 

[mezz]

MDOT investigating Portage Lake Lift Bridge problem

MDOT Press Release, August 5, 2010--"To correct the operation problem that resulted in the Portage Lake Lift Bridge being stuck in the open (up)position on two occasions in the past two day's, MDOT & consulting engineers will be diagnosing the cause of that problem today.
In order to diagnose the problem, engineers will need to raise and lower the deck several times, starting at 6 p.m. today."


As Nash stated & as I believe, this is more than likely related to the heat & expansion of the steel. There is a remote possibility that, it could be an imbalance of the counter weights which raise & lower the span, but, as coincidence would have it, it has been on the warmer side of things here for some time.-Mezz

 

[frnash]

Does anyone know how many times this has occurred since the bridge first opened to traffic in December 1959? The two occasions in as many days this week are the first I'm aware of. (I was there for the bridge opening, but for quite a number of years I wasn't monitoring the bridge status very closely.)

A little quick research reveals that there are at least three occasions on record. According to MDOT:

1. The vertical-lift span did not always operate correctly. During a test of equipment in the spring of 1983, the bridge stalled partway up the tower due to a loss of power. About an hour and a half later the span was once again moving.

2. In the fall of that same year more tension was created when the lift span froze in place. An oncoming steamer was forced to drop anchor and dock to avoid colliding with the structure. After about seventeen minutes the bridge operators got the span moving again.

3. On September 9, 1989, an ironic twist found Joe Sterbenz, a former bridge operator, and his new bride, Joanne, trapped atop the lift span with their wedding party. Joe and Joanne had decided to get married on the raised bridge; a broken hydraulic line stranded them there for a few hours. Despite periodic problems, the bridge has served its purpose well.

It's not clear what the cause was in the second case, but this week's events seem to be the first potentially involving something more serious than (electric?) power and/or hydraulic line failure.

Does anyone know of any other such events?

 

[techsledder]

You hit the nail on the head! Aside from needing (wanting) some cooler temps, we actually could use a second bridge, one that does not require a lift span, this way, nobody gets stuck & emergency services aren't hampered. This has happened a number of times in the past, you would think someone would get the message by now.-Mezz

Where would suggest this second crossing? South entry? Down by Chassel?

 

[mezz]

MDOT Press Release

August 6, 2010, "After successfully raising & lowering the Portage Lake Lift Bridge several times Thursday night, MDOT has returned the bridge to normal operation. MDOT consulting engineers did not identify any particular cause for service outages on Aug 3 & 4th but will continue testing the entire system for unidentified issues".

Nash, you could check an article in the Aug 5th issue of the Daily Mining Gazette, there was a mention of one of the first operators of the bridge, I believe last name was McGrath that said this happened a lot. I personally do recall a number of times this has gotten hung up. One of my relatives was also an operator on the bridge & recall from his experiences shared as well. I am sure the State did not document every single event. As far as an additional bridge, yes, somewhere between Dollar Bay & the East side of Houghton would be a consideration. Though, I doubt we will ever see that happen.
Let's wait & see what happens when the temps begin to climb back up again. We've had a small repreave the last two day's. I am willing to bet there will be another hang up or two if they attempt to raise it again.-Mezz

 

[frnash]

Nash, you could check an article in the Aug 5th issue of the Daily Mining Gazette, there was a mention of one of the first operators of the bridge, I believe last name was McGrath that said this happened a lot.

As a matter of fact, I saw that article, I'll get back to it a bit later. But first:

Where would suggest this second crossing? South entry? Down by Chassel?

The present bridge, when fully raised, affords approximately 100 feet of clearance above the canal.

Several decades ago, I actually considered the question of an alternate bridge location at some length.

At the time, (before M-26 was moved to the Memorial Road alignment!) I felt that an ideal bridge location would take advantage of the natural land forms, say from the ridge line just west of the present Memorial Road (M-26) in Houghton (el. ≈ 900 ft.) to nearly the top of Quincy Hill, perhaps at the old scenic lookout (el. ≈ 1,200 ft.), bearing approximately 13.5-19.5°, a linear distance of approximately 1.2-1.3 miles, for a clearance of ≈ 300 feet above the canal. The north end might be a bit lower in elevation, say just above the present intersection of Shafter St./McKinley St./Roosevelt Rd. in Hancock (el. ≈ 900 ft.). Of course there would be some significant problems with a bridge right above "beautiful downtown Hancock", like snow and ice falling from the bridge in the winter!

2. A bridge across a relatively narrow section of the canal, but still taking advantage of the natural land forms, say from approximately the Houghton Canal Road at Schmidt Corner (el. ≈ 700 ft.) bearing approximately 88.4° (almost due east) to approximately 120 ft. east of M-203 (el. ≈ 700 ft.), a linear distance of ≈ 4000 ft, would provide approximately the same clearance above the canal as the present bridge. That would put the bridge roughly 4.25 miles from the west end of Houghton, and 3 miles west of the west end of "beautiful downtown Hancock".

3. A similar alternative, but a bit closer in, would be from the hill above the Houghton Canal Road between Coles Creek Rd. and Gedvillas Rd. (el. ≈ 700 ft.) across to the hill just south of the mouth of Swedetown Creek (el. ≈ 700 ft.), a linear distance of ≈ 3500-4000 ft. and roughly 2.5 miles from the west end of Houghton, and 1.7 miles west of the west end of "beautiful downtown Hancock".

A Bridge from near Chassell or perhaps Portage Entry to White City/Jacobsville would suffer from a lack of high terrain on either side of the canal, unless you'd be prepared to deal with a bridge something like the San Diego – Coronado Bridge, with a climb up a 4.67% grade to the peak of the bridge and a similar descent on the other side. Not a great idea, particularly for truck traffic! Not to mention the long haul from White City/Jacobsville via Dreamland to Lake Linden and beyond. Seriously inconvenient.

 

[Iron Ranger]

Ferry service

Building a bridge would probably be pretty cost prohibitive. A better alternative would be a small ferry service that crossed at a narrow place. I have been to many places in Canada where this is the norm. Some of them run on cables which lay on the bottom after the ferry passes to the other side. Realistically the medical services issue is handled with mutual aid agreements between departments. Helicoptors have made the medical issues almost non-issues as they can land on almost any highway with enough clearance. While it is inconvienent it is probably not enough of an issue to warrant spending big bucks to build a second bridge.

 

[frnash]

Building a bridge would probably be pretty cost prohibitive. A better alternative would be a small ferry service that crossed at a narrow place.

Ferries on the Portage waterway in da Winter??? Yeah, that'll work!

Back in the old days (before any of the three generations of bridges across the Portage, they did indeed use ferries in the Summer, and used to travel across the ice in the Winter with their horses n' wagons.

Note that there are periods of time when neither ferries nor ice roads will work there.

 

[Iron Ranger]

Build an ice road then

Where I grew up in Minnesota the city literally plowed a road on the lake so guys could drive to their ice shanties. From what I understand the ice on the Portage isn't that great anyway. You could probably build a small ferry in the right place that could handle the ice.

 

[jd]

Just a few tidbits to chew on. The Portage Lake Lift bridge sees more traffic than the Mackinaw Bridge connecting the UP with lower MI.

I have seen the ice breaker come through in mid to late March and cut through 3 feet of ice on the water way. For about 2 months of the year the ice is too thick to allow a ferry and too thin to support a vehicle.

-John

 

[whoopermtu]

I would say if I was on the north side of the bridge and got "stuck", there would be very little complaining....just buzz back down to Bootjack and sit on the water at the friends camp.

Sounds so terrible....

 

[frnash]

Not out of service again, but some history:

For those who may be interested in the Portage Lake (Houghton Hancock) Bridge(s) and the history thereof, some excellent historical information & photos of the The Portage Lake Lift Bridge may be found here – I just found this today! (click the following link):

http://ctt.mtu.edu/sites/ctt/files/resources/bridge2016/conference/11anderson.pdf (67 pages!)

The title page says "Portage Lake Lift Bridge 2014-2016 Rehabilitation", but it includes oh so much more (67 pages!) including history and rare photos of:

• The first bridge (1875-1895)
• The second (swing bridge)
• The current lift bridge construction (1957-1959)
• Rehabilitation projects
• Technical engineering details (of course, it's from Michigan Tech!)
• And lots o' photos!

All courtesy of The Center for Technology & Training (CTT) at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at Michigan Technological University.

---

I have crossed the old swing bridge both by auto and on foot in the 1950s.
I remember the roadway being quite narrow, and I've heard tales from semi drivers that two trucks passing was often done very gingerly, with both passing vehicles' wheels scraping the curbs.
Hoofing it was quite a hair raising experience in the last years of it's life, especially in the winter, with the deteriorating, broken and missing planks in the pedestrian walkway! Been there done that!
I was at Michigan Tech when the lift bridge was built. Omigosh, what a relief that was!

The current lift bridge has been out of service on several occasions (other than major maintenance outages).
Between 1980 and 2014 (as noted in the MTU Center for Technology & Training document above).

• Spring 1983, a 1½ hour outage due to loss of power during a lift
• Fall 1988, a 1½ hour outage when scaffolding on the bridge tripped a limit switch during high winds while lifting
• November 1994, a 3 hour closure due to portions of the containment falling onto the bridge deck during painting project. Closed to re-secure the containment.
• August 2010, a 4 hour closure when a syncro tie relay failed during lift allowing the bridge to get out of skew and stuck.

Although I am unable to find any citations for this just now, I have also heard of a few operational delays on either the old swing bridge or the lift bridge or both due to metal expansion during periods of (rare!) extreme summer heat, when the local fire department(s) had to hose down the pertinent bits to cool them off before the moveable section could be moved!

---

And from today's PastyCam (October 5, 2017):

"… The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) has chosen the Lift Bridge as their "Bridge of the Month". Click on the following link to see what they have to say about our Bridge:
Bridge of the Month: Portage Lake Lift Bridge". …

I see from the Bridge of the Month: Portage Lake Lift Bridge that the bridge "was completed … at a cost of $11 million."

'Tis interesting to note that various inflation calculators show that …

$11 million	<center>in 1959 dollars</center>
≈ $92-93 million	<center>in 2017 dollars</center>

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(using the Consumer Price Index (CPI-U), 1665-2100) as a reference.
That much! Kinda sneaks up on ya, eh?
Can I go back to 1959 with my 2017 retirement dollars?