Mackinac bridge

Been across twice I agree it
s insane . I understand you can even hire people to drive your vehicle across if your afraid, even with a slight wind it throws a average car I can't imagine what it would do to a enclosed trailer, plus the fact you 300 Ft above the water
 
Heard there's a couple of oil pipe lines laying under the bridge and leaking. They think a ships anchor snagged it.
 
The Big Mac bridge doesn't bother me nearly as much as the Zilwaukee Bridge - they had way too many problems with it when it was being built!!
 
That bridge is a tremendous engineering marvel. Tens of millions of vehicles of all sorts have safely crossed it with only two catastrophes, one suspected to be intentional. They will close it down if a unsafe condition exist whether it be extreme wind or falling ice from the structure itself. Finnished and opened in 1958 I think you will be quite safe no matter what you cross it with.
 
Think one lane each way is heavy steel grid (where one can see the water underneath) in other words wind flows threw one half of the bridge deck surface, instead of over or under it. That could be to minimize the amount of wind whipping of the bridge decking and maybe why it was designed that way.
 
It was open a few hours ago. Maybe they just closed it? I was just at the shore of Lake Huron. I got out of my truck and the wind nearly knocked me over. Spring in northern Michigan. 24" of new snow in the past three days and now we are having an ice storm.
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(quoted from post at 16:07:55 04/15/18) Heard there's a couple of oil pipe lines laying under the bridge and leaking. They think a ships anchor snagged it.

The pipeline(s) are west of the bridge and not leaking.
But there is a nearby underwater power cable that may have been struck by an anchor and is/was leaking insulation fluid (mineral oil with benzene). Reports say about 600 gallons worth.

They found a couple of dents in the pipeline also that they think might be from the same anchor. But no mention of leaks.

http://abcnews.go.com/International...sel-damaged-underwater-oil-pipelines-54395934
 
I would not want to cross today in something small. Like in a Yugo that got blown right of the bridge years back? Poor girl was driving in the middle where the road is open-grates to let wind through. Picker her right up.

Mackinac Bridge was financed and built by New Yorkers. Why not Michiganders, I do not know.
 
Been across it with many loads. Even some oversize loads. It is safer than some of the roads I have driven on in some parts of the country. Think about I-84 along the Colombian river. Not sure how solid some of those places are where you actually drive out over the river and along the bank while it has been washed out close to the roadway. Some of highway US-95 up along the Snake fro m Payette to Whitebird pass. Us- 12 across Id from LOL pass to Lewiston ID there are other places in other states not trying to pick on ID Wy,MT,CO,and more.
 
After being across the Big Mac so many times I was really disappointed seeing the Golden Gate. I knew it wasn't as big but thought it was bigger then that.

There are two pipelines west of the bridge that run crude from Canada across the Michigan straits to Sarnia. Guess they are like 50 years old and it's getting many here worried.
 
I can't confirm that is was closed, but I have seen it closed due to high winds before. I don't think much of it driving on it anymore, I have been across it too many times. But it is an awesome sight looking at it from the beach by it! Quite the engineering marvel!
 
I crossed that waterway in 1955 by ferry before the Mackinac was built. Went from Upper to Lower on my way to Detroit to work for the winter.
 
Driving a tractor across the Mackinac bridge is like meth. You get hooked on it, been doing it for 10 years now, too late to stop.
 
J D,

Most of the bonds were purchased by C. S. Mott, a Flint native who owned controlling interest of General Motors at the time and was the principal owner and contributer of the Mott Foundation. These bonds were sold through a New York Clearing House who handled the transactions of the funds. The budget for the bridge was $100,000,000.00 and it was finished under budget and on time. These bonds were paid off in full years ago.
 

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