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Portage Lake Lift Bridge
Bridge in Michigan / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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The Portage Lake Lift Bridge (officially the Houghton–Hancock Bridge[3]) connects the cities of Hancock and Houghton, in the US state of Michigan. It crosses Portage Lake, a portion of the waterway which cuts across the Keweenaw Peninsula with a canal linking the final several miles to Lake Superior to the northwest. US Highway 41 (US 41) and M-26 are both routed across the bridge. It is the only land-based link between the north (so-called Copper Island) and south sections of the Keweenaw peninsula.[4] In June 2022, it was dedicated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.[5]
Portage Lake Lift Bridge | |
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Coordinates | 47.123768°N 88.574706°W / 47.123768; -88.574706 |
Carries | ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Crosses | Portage Waterway arm of Portage Lake |
Locale | Hancock and Houghton, Michigan |
Official name | Houghton–Hancock Bridge |
Maintained by | MDOT |
ID number | 3380 |
Characteristics | |
Design | Vertical-lift bridge |
Total length | 1,310 feet (400 m) |
Width | both decks: 4 lanes with no shoulders lower deck: single-track railroad was abandoned 1982. |
Height | 180 ft (55 m)[1] |
Longest span | 269 ft (82 m) |
Clearance below | 4 ft (1.2 m) fully lowered 32–36 ft (9.8–11.0 m) raised to intermediate position About 100 ft (30 m) fully raised) |
History | |
Opened | 1959 |
Statistics | |
Daily traffic | >20,000[2] |
Location | |
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This moveable bridge is a lift bridge with the middle section capable of being lifted from its low point of four feet clearance over the water to a clearance of 100 feet (30 m) to allow boats to pass underneath. The bridge is the world's heaviest and widest double-decked vertical-lift bridge.[6] More than 35,000 tons of concrete and 7,000 tons of steel went into the bridge, which replaced the narrow 54-year-old swing bridge, declared a menace to navigation on the busy Keweenaw Waterway.[7]
Hancock and Houghton hold an annual celebration called Bridgefest to commemorate the opening of the bridge which united their two communities.[8]