Michigan: the bridge they can't get right

The Zilwaukee Bridge in Saginaw County, Michigan, I see, is still a joke. If you are inclined, read this from the local rag, the Flint Journal.

When I was a kid, and all the way up to the point at which I moved from Michigan (1985), this bridge and replacement of same was the biggest thorn in the side of travelers to northern Michigan. And I'm not joking - half of southern Michigan went over this bridge nearly every summer weekend.

While it may have seemed like a good idea in the late-1950s, soon after the opening of the (original) Zilwaukee Bridge in 1960 it became clear the crossing would cause more problems then it solved. While the most obvious problems concerned the massive traffic tie-ups on the freeway each time the bridge opened, it also caused problems for traffic on the Saginaw River as well.

The bridge was only 150 feet wide and several ships actually hit the bridge, causing damage and additional tie-ups on the freeway as well. Top top it off, shipping traffic actually quadrupled in the years after the bridge was completed and the back-ups on the freeway reached three to four hours in duration. The worst back-ups, of course, occurred during major holiday weekends and during the fall hunting season.

I cannot tell you the number of hours I sat in a hot car on a Sunday afternoon after spending a (grueling) weekend with my aunt and uncle in northern Michigan, while that bridge went up - slowly - numerous boats passed through and then it went down, equally slowly.

Less than fifteen years after the original bascule bridge was opened, the decision came to replace it with a high-level bridge ... The final bridge design selected and constructed is a post-tensioned, segmental, box girder bridge and work on the new structure commenced in late-1979 and was projected to cost approximately $77 million (not counting approaches and ramp work) ... when the bridge was approximately half-complete, a major construction accident halted all work in August 1982. (Source: Michigan Highways)

Now the bridge is causing more problems.

This from the Flint Journal: The bridge's northbound lanes are closed because the state agency suspended a $3.3-million expansion bearing replacement project on the bridge in April after Williamston-based Midwest Bridge Co. workers cut reinforced steel bars buried in concrete. Officials say original construction plans did not show the bars. The northbound lanes on the 8,000-foot-long, 125-foot-tall span have remained closed since. It will take several weeks to fix the bridge, officials said.

I think this bridge, and any other bridge they put up there, is/will be doomed to failure. I suggest a huge ramp ...