![Blue Water Bridge 3](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/ff/Blue_Water_Bridge_3.jpg)
The Blue Water Bridge is a
twin-span international bridge across the
St. Clair River
The St. Clair River (french: Rivière Sainte-Claire) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed November 7, 2011 river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron int ...
that links
Port Huron
Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately.
Located along the St. Clair ...
,
Michigan
Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and the ...
, United States, and
Sarnia
Sarnia is a city in Lambton County, Ontario, Canada. It had a 2021 population of 72,047, and is the largest city on Lake Huron. Sarnia is located on the eastern bank of the junction between the Upper and Lower Great Lakes where Lake Huron fl ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
, Canada. The Blue Water Bridge connects
Highway 402 in Ontario with both
Interstate 69
Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...
(I-69) and
Interstate 94
Interstate 94 (I-94) is an east–west Interstate Highway connecting the Great Lakes and northern Great Plains regions of the United States. Its western terminus is just east of Billings, Montana, at a junction with I-90; its eastern ter ...
(I-94) in Michigan.
Description
The original span is a
cantilever truss bridge with a total length of and a main span of . The second, newer span is a continuous
bowstring arch bridge with a total length of and a main span of .
The Blue Water Bridges are jointly owned and maintained by Canada and the United States:
Federal Bridge Corporation
The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited (FBCL; french: La société des ponts fédéraux Limitée) is the name of two successive Canadian federal Crown corporations.
The Federal Bridge Corporation Limited is responsible for operating and managing ...
, a
Crown corporation
A state-owned enterprise (SOE) is a government entity which is established or nationalised by the ''national government'' or ''provincial government'' by an executive order or an act of legislation in order to earn profit for the governmen ...
of the
Government of Canada
The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown ...
, is in charge of the Canadian side,
while the
Michigan Department of Transportation
The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is a constitutional government principal department of the US state of Michigan. The primary purpose of MDOT is to maintain the Michigan State Trunkline Highway System which includes all Interstate ...
(MDOT) is in charge of the US side.
A toll is charged to cross the bridges, which is used to pay for maintenance and operations.
Together, the two bridges connect
Chicago
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
, coordinates =
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, subdivision_name ...
and the
Midwestern United States
The Midwestern United States, also referred to as the Midwest or the American Midwest, is one of four census regions of the United States Census Bureau (also known as "Region 2"). It occupies the northern central part of the United States. I ...
with
Toronto
Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...
and the
Northeastern United States
The Northeastern United States, also referred to as the Northeast, the East Coast, or the American Northeast, is a geographic region of the United States. It is located on the Atlantic coast of North America, with Canada to its north, the Southe ...
, one of the four shortest routes of land travel between the US Midwest and Northeast. They are the second-busiest commercial crossing on the
Canada–United States border
The border between Canada and the United States is the longest international border in the world. The terrestrial boundary (including boundaries in the Great Lakes, Atlantic, and Pacific coasts) is long. The land border has two sections: Can ...
, after the
Ambassador Bridge
The Ambassador Bridge is a tolled international suspension bridge across the Detroit River that connects Detroit, Michigan, United States, with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1929, it is the busiest international border crossing in North ...
at
Detroit-Windsor,
and the fourth-busiest overall international crossing in
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
in terms of total number of vehicles
at 4.7 million annually . In Canada, they are the third-busiest bridges after the
Champlain Bridge in
Montreal
Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...
and the Ambassador Bridge.
Border crossing
The Port Huron–Sarnia Border Crossing connects the cities of
Port Huron, Michigan
Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 30,184 at the 2010 census. The city is adjacent to Port Huron Township but is administered separately.
Located along the St. Clair ...
, and
Sarnia, Ontario, at the Blue Water Bridge. Both the US and Canada border stations are open 24 hours per day. The
US Customs and Border Protection
United States Customs and Border Protection (CBP) is the largest federal law enforcement agency of the United States Department of Homeland Security. It is the country's primary border control organization, charged with regulating and facilit ...
upgraded its inspection facilities in 2011, and
Canada Border Services Agency
The Canada Border Services Agency (CBSA; french: Agence des services frontaliers du Canada, ''ASFC'') is a federal law enforcement agency that is responsible for border control (i.e. protection and surveillance), immigration enforcement, and cu ...
upgraded its facilities in 2012. In 2017, inspectors at Port Huron processed 1,579,646 cars and 826,288 trucks.
History
A US Port of Entry was established at the location in 1836, when a license to provide commercial ferry service between Port Huron and what then was known as Port Sarnia. The license was issued to a Canadian man named Crampton who operated a sailboat. In the 1840s, a man named Davenport, also from Port Sarnia, operated a
pony-powered vessel. Steam-powered vessels and paddle wheelers soon followed, but the first vessel capable of carrying automobiles did not arrive until 1921.
The first bridge was fully opened to traffic on October 10, 1938. The lead engineer was Polish-born
Ralph Modjeski
Ralph Modjeski (born Rudolf Modrzejewski; January 27, 1861 – June 26, 1940) was a Polish-American civil engineer who achieved prominence as "America's greatest bridge builder."
Life
He was born in Bochnia, called Galicia at the time, on Janu ...
. 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 side's border crossing.
In 1928, Maynard D. Smith hired a Pennsylvania-based company named Modjeski and Masters to build what would become the Blue Water Bridge. Ralph Modjeski, a Polish-born engineer who would become known as "America's greatest bridge builder", served as lead engineer for the project. In developing a design, Modjeski faced obstacles posed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which sought to ensure that the St. Clair River remain navigable for military and commercial vessels. Bridge construction could not interfere with navigation, bridge builders could not use floating platforms, and the completed span was required to clear the water by . Originally, Modjeski proposed a mammoth suspension-style bridge with tall towers and massive cable anchorages; however, because of the vertical clearance requirement for shipping, he opted instead for a cantilevered through-truss design.
In 1935, the Michigan Legislature passed a law (Public Act 147 of 1935) creating a State Bridge Commission to finance the design and erection of the main bridge structure of the Blue Water Bridge. The commission was approved by the United States Congress in August 1935 (Public Law 411 of 1935). The law permitted the commission to sell bonds that would be repaid by the revenue from the tolls ($0.25 toll for travelers) collected within 30 years. When the bridge and its associated bonds were paid off, Michigan Governor
John Swainson
John Burley Swainson (July 31, 1925 – May 13, 1994) was a Canadian-American politician and jurist who served as the 42nd governor of Michigan from 1961 to 1963.
Early life and education
Swainson was born in Windsor, Ontario, Canada. He mo ...
used an executive order to cancel the $0.25 toll, eliminating the jobs of toll collectors, which included his own father.
In 1964, the eastern terminus of
I-94 was completed at the foot of the Blue Water Bridge on the American side. Traffic volumes steadily increased, spurred by the completion of
Highway 402 in 1982 which provided a continuous freeway link to
Highway 401
King's Highway 401, commonly referred to as Highway 401 and also known by its official name as the Macdonald–Cartier Freeway or colloquially referred to as the four-oh-one,
is a controlled-access 400-series highway in the Canadian provinc ...
on the Canadian side. In 1984,
I-69
Interstate 69 (I-69) is an Interstate Highway in the United States currently consisting of 10 unconnected segments with an original continuous segment from Indianapolis, Indiana, northeast to the Canadian border in Port Huron, Michigan, at ...
was completed to Port Huron which meant that three freeways converged on the three-lane bridge.
Twinning project
As a precursor to the upcoming twinning project, the customs and toll collection booths on both sides were extensively reconfigured in the early 1990s. On the American side, the
I-beam
An I-beam, also known as H-beam (for universal column, UC), w-beam (for "wide flange"), universal beam (UB), rolled steel joist (RSJ), or double-T (especially in Polish language, Polish, Bulgarian language, Bulgarian, Spanish language, Spanish ...
girder
overpass crossing Pine Grove Avenue was replaced by a much wider
embankment
Embankment may refer to:
Geology and geography
* A levee, an artificial bank raised above the immediately surrounding land to redirect or prevent flooding by a river, lake or sea
* Embankment (earthworks), a raised bank to carry a road, railwa ...
, which also added a four-story customs office building in the center. On the Canadian side this necessitated the demolition of the original booths that had been in use since 1938; these were noted for their
Art Deco
Art Deco, short for the French ''Arts Décoratifs'', and sometimes just called Deco, is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design, that first appeared in France in the 1910s (just before World War I), and flourished in the Unite ...
style but they were too low to accommodate
semi-trailer truck
A semi-trailer truck, also known as a semitruck, (or semi, eighteen-wheeler, big rig, tractor-trailer or, by synecdoche, a semitrailer) is the combination of a tractor unit and one or more semi-trailers to carry freight. A semi-trailer ...
s which had been directed to the outside.
In 1992, it was determined that traffic on the bridge had exceeded its rated capacity, so bridge authorities decided to add a second span in order to accommodate the higher traffic.
During the debate over the form of the second span from 1994–95, five possible designs were proposed. The
parallel chord truss Bridge and the single-span tied-arch bridge proposals were the least popular as they were not visually appealing and dropped from further consideration. Over half of public opinion had favored a duplicate of the first bridge, while the
cable-stayed bridge
A cable-stayed bridge has one or more ''towers'' (or ''pylons''), from which cables support the bridge deck. A distinctive feature are the cables or stays, which run directly from the tower to the deck, normally forming a fan-like pattern o ...
came in second with around 21% thanks to its "dramatic appearance and appeal to engineers because of their high structural redundancy". The
Blue Water Bridge Authority
The Blue Water Bridge Authority was a Canadian Crown corporation responsible for the operation and maintenance of the Canadian side of the Blue Water Bridge in Point Edward, Ontario. It was established on May 21, 1964 via the ''Blue Water Bridge ...
had rejected both designs that topped public opinion, because the duplicate bridge would create a false sense of history, while the cable-stayed design would overshadow the existing bridge in height and proportion. 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.
The selection of the continuous-tied arch proposal was initially controversial as it did not have much public opinion support, and critics regarded this type as awkward. Consequently, the engineers changed design details to make it complement the existing bridge. For instance the use of concrete piers and steel tower supporting the anchor span, rather than the traditional concrete tower, gave the bridge a "less massive appearance, easing the difficult transition between the approach, anchor and main spans". The engineers also made "the main span attractive, but economical by settling on an innovative low arch design that merges the traffic deck with the bottom structural supporting steel for the portion of the bridge suspended over the water", which "eliminated the need for expensive bracing and contributes to the graceful appearance of the structure", while the flattened arch also better matches the old bridge. For the new bridge approaches the engineers selected concrete hammer-head piers over steel piers and deck trusses, not only for economical considerations, but it also "gives the new bridge a simpler look, making it easier to distinguish the old bridge from the new one" and "contributes to the clean lines of the new bridge and leaves the view of the old bridge's deck trusses uncluttered". Due to each country's manufacturing differences, the Americans used large pre-cast concrete beams (six beams for each segment) for the approaches while the Canadians used concrete pre-cast box girders (three box girders per segment). Despite this, the differing approach spans are the same depth and appear identical from the side view.
The twinning project was a combined effort between Modjeski & Masters (American engineers) and Buckland & Taylor Ltd. (Canadian engineers). During the construction, two temporary masts were erected to assist in the construction of the tied arch; the towers were painted red and lighted, enabling them to be seen from afar. The approaches to the new bridge use
box girders, compared to the original which hold up the road deck with trusses.
The second three-lane bridge, just south of the first bridge, opened on July 22, 1997.
Rehabilitation of original bridge
After the new bridge opened for traffic, the original bridge was immediately closed for extensive renovation which involved, among other things, replacement of the bridge deck, guardrails, and lighting. During this period, the new span used a three-lane configuration reminiscent of the one employed on the original bridge. A
flyover ramp
An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and ''underpass'' together form ...
on the U.S. side temporarily diverted westbound traffic from the new bridge to the toll plaza, which was blocked off after the original bridge was rehabilitated. The original span was reopened on November 13, 1999, making the Blue Water Bridge the largest infrastructure-crossing project in North America.
Since twinning
In 2007, in accordance with
Federal Identity Program
The Federal Identity Program (FIP) is the Government of Canada's corporate identity program. The purpose of the FIP is to provide to the public a consistent and unified image for federal government projects and activities. Other objectives of th ...
requirements, the Blue Water Bridge Authority agreed on a name for the federal Crown corporate organization:
Blue Water Bridge Canada.
In March 2009, the Canadian government announced that
C$13.5 million (
US$
The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...
10.8 million) in funding would be allocated toward upgrading the border crossing facilities at the Blue Water Bridge. The work was scheduled to begin in May 2009.
Construction was also underway in 2011 to widen and improve both Highway 402 on the Canadian side and co-signed I-94/I-69 on the American side approaching the Blue Water Bridge.
The projects, completed the following year, added dedicated lanes separating Blue Water Bridge traffic from local traffic.
See also
*
*
List of bridges in Canada
This is a list of bridges and viaducts in Canada, including those for pedestrians and vehicular traffic.
Historical and architectural interest bridges
There are only a few covered bridges left in Canada compared to all those that were built in t ...
*
St. Clair Tunnel
The St. Clair Tunnel is the name for two separate rail tunnels which were built under the St. Clair River between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan. The original, opened in 1891 and used until it was replaced by a new larger tunnel in 1995, ...
, a nearby international railroad tunnel
*
Trussed Concrete Steel Company
The Trussed Concrete Steel Company was founded in 1903 by Julius Kahn, an engineer and inventor. Its headquarters were in Detroit, Michigan, and its steel factory was in Youngstown, Ohio. The long company name changed to a shortened versi ...
References
External links
Aerial views of the Blue Water BridgeFishing Reports for the Bluewater AreaBlue Water BridgePDF: Construction History of the Blue Water BridgesInformation and Tons of Photos of the Original BridgeLive Traffic Cameras*
Historic American Engineering Record
Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS) responsible for administering the Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American Engineering Record (HAER), and Historic American Landscapes ...
(HAER) documentation, filed under Port Huron, St. Clair County, MI:
**
**
*
*
{{Authority control
1938 establishments in Michigan
1938 establishments in Ontario
Box girder bridges in Canada
Box girder bridges in the United States
Bridges completed in 1938
Bridges on the Interstate Highway System
Buildings and structures in Sarnia
Buildings and structures in St. Clair County, Michigan
Canada–United States border crossings
Canada–United States bridges
Cantilever bridges in Canada
Cantilever bridges in the United States
Historic American Engineering Record in Michigan
Interstate 69
Interstate 94
Lake Huron Circle Tour
St. Clair River
Port Huron, Michigan
Road bridges in Michigan
Road bridges in Ontario
Through arch bridges in Canada
Through arch bridges in the United States
Tied arch bridges in Canada
Tied arch bridges in the United States
Toll bridges in Canada
Toll bridges in Michigan
Tolled sections of Interstate Highways
Transport in Sarnia
Transportation in St. Clair County, Michigan
Truss bridges in Canada
Truss bridges in the United States
Steel bridges in Canada
Steel bridges in the United States