I found some old photographs the other day that might be of some interest to my Michigan followers. My followers that are overseas can look up more information in a Google search for: Zilwaukee Bridge.
I have posted pictures from here before. This bridge is part of freeway I-75 that runs from Sault Ste. Marie Michigan (at the Canadian border) down to Miami Florida. The top picture shows how it looked in 1988 after the new bridge span was opened.
The old bridge used to be a drawbridge and when a Great Lakes freighter came downriver, the traffic on the two lane freeway would backup for miles. The old bridge had two lanes for northbound traffic and two lanes for southbound traffic.
This second photo is how the bridge looks in September 2024. Building the new bridge turned out to be a fiasco and part of it fell into the river. There was a new construction company hired eventually. Some of my older Michigan followers might have even gotten caught in one of those legendary traffic jams.
This is a picture I posted a couple weeks ago and you can see why the old drawbridge would have to stay open so long. These freighters are not exactly speed demons and there is a bend in the river right where the ship is now standing.
The new bridge has 4 lanes going both north and south.
