The other day, the hardworking team at Stupid Lansing alerted me to the existence of Big Penny, Lansing’s Truck-munching bridge! mLive shares that the bridge was completed in the summer of 1928 by the Grand Trunk Western Railroad, spanning Pennsylvania Avenue (thus the name Big Penny) near the Potter Park Zoo. Read on for more about the bridge & to learn about how the Stupid Lansing team gave Big Penny its new fangs & eyes!
The 12′ 0″ bridge has now snacked upon 87 semis since counting began in 2004, and 8 so far this year! Will it surpass the 29 trucks munched of 2024? Stay tuned to Stupid Lansing for updates!!
One year ago today, I shared Joe’s photo of them laying the last girder on the Gordie Howe’s Bridge. With over 3,000,000 views on Facebook & Michigan in Pictures was the most popular post ever so I figured I would return with his shot of the crews meeting in the middle of this Canadian-funded bridge from Canada to the US.
Thousands of people commute each day from their homes in Michigan to their work in Canada and vice versa. Let’s join Michigan to Canada so that those nurses, engineers, municipal workers and computer programmers can more easily travel within the same country. The pandemic played havoc with those commuters, when the international crossing was closed.
Let’s scrap that border before the next pandemic.
As someone who has regularly visited Canada all my life; vacationing on Sugar Island & St Joseph Island, skiing in Searchmont, enjoying music in Toronto, and zipping across to Windsor with just my enhanced Michigan license whenever the mood strikes me, I’m giving that a big amen!
James shared the photo of the Ambassador Bridge back in February of 2018 writing: Fog covers the cities of Windsor, ONT and Detroit, MI. The Ambassador Bridge connects the two cities. 5 shot panorama stitched in Lightroom. Shot from Detroit Riverside Park.
There’s more pics in his Detroit gallery on Flickr including the photo of the two nations looking downriver.
Overall, the report found 82% of Canadians do not want to become the 51st state with only 13% saying they would.
Monika regularly shares photos in our Facebook group but in case you haven’t visited, I wanted to share a couple here. About the photo above she writes:
I saw this out of the corner of my eye last August and gasped! Since then, I’ve been determined to get the shot but being 3 hours from home, I chose to wait until my autumn color tour. I’m as pleased as punch about it as it was a sketchy, tree filled drone flight in but I HAD to get the waterfalls in back and in front of the train trestle.
During the 20th century, expanding cities, new technologies, and changing lifestyles generated demand for new housing, offices and infrastructure—increasingly built to towering proportions. The booming construction industry depended on skilled workers capable of navigating great heights … Named for their historical role maintaining ecclesiastical buildings, ‘steeplejacks’ are the skilled tradespeople who assess, maintain and construct tall buildings, structures and towers.
“Michigan at last is to be one state geographically, economically and culturally, as well as politically. Where nature divided us, we have bound ourselves together with this web of steel. This mighty bridge, the world’s greatest, is a symbol of our strength.” Michigan Governor G. Mennen Williams, June 1958
Yesterday’s Mackinac Bridge walk post was so popular I had to bring you a little more! Mighty Mac shares that although the Mackinac Bridge opened to vehicle traffic on November 1, 1957, the official Mackinac Bridge dedication didn’t take place until June of 1958 when only 68 people walked the Bridge. The walk was moved to Labor Day in 1959, and it has been held every Labor Day since then! Much more at Mighty Mac’s Mackinac Bridge Walk page.
Also if you can’t make it, you can check out the Bridge Walk live through the Mackinac Bridge Web Cams!
On Saturday, June 15 2024 the US & Canadian crews working on the Gordie Howe International Bridge from Windsor, Canada to Detroit joined the two sides. They share: 🌲Ironworkers on the #GordieHoweBridge project celebrate with a special ceremony dating back more than 1,000 years. Topping Out* symbolizes a connection and the evergreen tree indicates a job well done. It’s a cherished custom that Ironworkers say brings “good luck”.
Good luck to all this hardworking crew as they approach the finish line for this massive multi-year effort! Follow along on Instagram @gordiehowebrg.
The Gordie Howe Bridge is (rightfully) getting a lot of attention these days, but another beautiful span connwcting Michigan with Canada is the Blue Water Bridge across the St. Clair River at the southern end of Lake Huron from Port Huron to Sarnia, Ontario. The Blue Water Bridge Authority shares:
The first bridge was opened to traffic on October 10, 1938. The lead engineer was Ralph Modjeski. This bridge originally had two lanes for vehicles as well as sidewalks; the latter were removed in the 1980s to make room for a third lane for automobiles. The third lane for each direction started from the apex of the bridge in order to accommodate long lineups entering each sides’ respective border crossings.
…In the early 1990s, bridge authorities decided to add a second arch in order to accommodate the high traffic. During the debate over the form of the second span, five possible designs were purposed from 1994-95. Over half of public opinion had mostly favored a duplicate of the first bridge, while the cable-stayed bridge came in second with around 21%. The Blue Water Bridge Authority had rejected both designs, due to the duplicate creating a false sense of history, while the cable-stayed option was feared to overshadow the existing bridge. Another cost-effective but unpopular design was the parallel truss. The continuous-tied arch design, which was a distant third place in polls, was chosen for two reasons. One was that it blends in with the original span yet stands out on its own, and the other is lower maintenance costs because fewer spans are involved.
Chris Ahern is a professional photographer & licensed commercial drone pilot who works in and around Detroit. Follow him on Facebook or Instagram & for sure check out his website.
I saw a couple other photos of this cloud as it rolled across the Straits of Mackinac & northeast Michigan the other day but wowzas – the Mighty Mac takes it!! Our friends at the Earth Science Picture of the Day have an excellent post on the difference between roll clouds & shelf clouds:
Roll clouds and shelf clouds are found near the leading edge of thunderstorms and form when relatively cool air, from the storm’s downdraft, forges ahead into the warm, moist air that’s feeding the storm. The main difference between roll clouds and shelf clouds (both are called arcus clouds) is that a roll cloud is detached from the parent thunderstorm, whereas a shelf cloud (right) is affixed to the base of a cumulonimbus cloud.
NOTE: Just learned that this picture is from 2018 – still love it! (buy it here)
EDITOR’S NOTE: I know I just shared a pic of this bridge, but on my post about the Gordie Howe Bridge last week there was such a depressing eruption of ignorant & nativist nonsense that I remembered why I decided to put Michigan in Pictures to bed a while back. I need to be super clear: I am a progressive. I believe all people have a right to good food, clean water, and a warm place to live. I also believe that the United States is far better when we open up to the world. It’s fine if you don’t believe in that, but if you disbelieve in a disrespectful fashion or in any way attack decent folks, I’ll block you so fast you won’t believe it. OK now on to the post:
The Gordie Howe Bridge connecting Windsor, Ontario to Detroit, Michigan is expected to be completed in time for a September 2025 opening. The Windsor-Detroit Bridge Authority shared an update earlier this year that says (in part):
Having delivered the busiest year of construction to date, the Gordie Howe International Bridge project team is able to confirm a new completion and opening timeline. Construction completion is planned for September 2025 with the first vehicles expected to travel across the bridge that fall.
Originally, the $5.7 billion (CDN) project was scheduled for completion in November 2024 with opening anticipated by the end of that year. However, the project, like many others, experienced unprecedented disruptions as a result of the COVID-19 global pandemic. The disruptions were even more prevalent for the Gordie Howe International Bridge project given the differing applicable restrictions in the US and Canada, combined with the ramping up of construction activities in early 2020.
…Recognizing that an extended construction period impacts the project host communities, WDBA has budgeted for a one-year extension of the Gordie Howe International Bridge Community Benefits Plan. With $3 million (CDN) to be divided equally between Canada and the US and expended over the 2025-2026 fiscal year, residents and business owners in Sandwich/west Windsor and Delray/Southwest Detroit will see positive outcomes from further regional investments. Additional details on the approach to allocating this funding will be shared later in 2024.
Michigan in Pictures 