The Lake Shore Drive Bridge, also known as the M-26 Bridge or the Eagle River Bridge, is a

pedestrian bridge A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at a ...

Eagle River, Michigan Eagle River is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is the county seat of Keweenaw County. Its population was 65 at the 2020 census, which makes it by far the least-populated county sea ...

, crossing the Eagle River. It carried highway M-26 over the river from 1915 until 1990, when the adjacent Eagle River Timber Bridge replaced it for automobile traffic. The Lake Shore Drive Bridge is listed as a

Michigan State Historic Site The Michigan State Historic Preservation Office is one of 59 state historic preservation offices established according to the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 that plays a role in implementing federal historic preservation policy in the ...

and is a contributing property of the Eagle River Historic District.

History

Construction

Originally located on the site was a

Pratt through truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

bridge, which by 1915 had deteriorated sufficiently to warrant replacement. The new bridge was designed by the

Michigan State Highway Department 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 ...

under a system of standardized bridge plans provided to local communities on request. The Lake Shore Drive Bridge was constructed by the Wisconsin Bridge and Iron Company of Milwaukee and was completed in 1915. The concrete

abutments An abutment is the substructure at the ends of a bridge span or dam supporting its superstructure. Single-span bridges have abutments at each end which provide vertical and lateral support for the span, as well as acting as retaining walls ...

were made by the Smith-Byers-Sparks Company from Houghton, Michigan. The Lake Shore Drive Bridge was one of two bridges built simultaneously over the Eagle River, the other located in Phoenix, Michigan. The bridge is a contributing property of the Eagle River Historic District, listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on September 13, 1984.

Replacement

In 1990, the adjacent Eagle River Timber Bridge opened for traffic and the Lake Shore Drive Bridge was relegated to pedestrian traffic. The Lake Shore Drive Bridge was listed as a

on May 10, 1990, and an informational marker was erected in 1991.

2007 inspection

The collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, a continuous deck truss, in Minneapolis on August 1, 2007, prompted inspections of bridges of similar construction. Four bridges of this type were identified in Michigan, including the Lake Shore Drive Bridge. The bridge was inspected on August 6, 2007, and was determined to be safe.

Architecture

The bridge is a Warren deck truss and continuous deck truss made of riveted steel. The bridge has three spans: a main span of flanked by two spans. The guard rails are made of woven steel lattice.

References

External links

{{commonscat-inline, Lake Shore Drive Bridge Pedestrian bridges in Michigan Michigan State Historic Sites in Keweenaw County Transportation in Keweenaw County, Michigan Steel bridges in the United States Warren truss bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in Keweenaw County, Michigan Historic district contributing properties in Michigan