Blue Water Bridge | |
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Blue Water Bridge, newer bridge in foreground | |
Coordinates | 42°59′55″N82°25′25″W / 42.99861°N 82.42361°W |
Carries | 6 lanes of ![]() ![]() ![]() |
Crosses | St. Clair River |
Locale | Port Huron, Michigan and Point Edward, Ontario |
Official name | Blue Water Bridge |
Maintained by | MDOT and Federal Bridge Corporation |
Characteristics | |
Design | Cantilever truss (westbound) Continuous tied arch (eastbound) |
Total length | 6,178 ft (1,883 m) (westbound) 6,109 ft (1,862 m) (eastbound) |
Width | 38 ft (12 m) (westbound) 51 ft (16 m) (eastbound) |
Height | 210 ft (64 m) (westbound) 233 ft (71 m) (eastbound) |
Longest span | 871 ft (265 m) (westbound) 922 ft (281 m) (eastbound) |
Clearance below | 152 ft (46 m) (westbound) 155 ft (47 m) (eastbound) |
History | |
Opened | October 10, 1938 (westbound) July 22, 1997 (eastbound) |
Statistics | |
Daily traffic |
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Toll | Cars: US$3.00 or C$4.00 (to Canada) and US$3.25 or C$4.25 (to US) As of January 28,2020 [update] Extra axles: US$3.00 or C$4.00 (to Canada) and US$3.25 or C$4.25 (to US) Trucks & buses: US$3.25 or C$4.25 per axle (to Canada) and US$3.50 or C$4.50 per axle (to US). C$4.25 per axle with Prepaid Account (to US).Contents |
Location | |
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The Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge across the St. Clair River that links Port Huron, Michigan, United States, and Point Edward, Ontario, Canada. The Blue Water Bridge connects Highway 402 in Ontario with both Interstate 69 (I-69) and Interstate 94 (I-94) in Michigan.
The original span is a cantilever truss bridge with a total length of 6,178 ft (1,883 m) and a main span of 871 ft (265 m). The second, newer span is a continuous bowstring arch bridge with a total length of 6,109 ft (1,862 m) and a main span of 922 ft (281 m).
The Blue Water Bridges are jointly owned and maintained by Canada and the United States: Federal Bridge Corporation, a Crown corporation of the Government of Canada, is in charge of the Canadian side, [2] while the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) is in charge of the US side. [3] A toll is charged to cross the bridges, which is used to pay for maintenance and operations.
Together, the two bridges connect Chicago and the Midwestern United States with Toronto and the Northeastern United States, 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, after the Ambassador Bridge at Detroit-Windsor, [4] and the fourth-busiest overall international crossing in Ontario in terms of total number of vehicles [5] at 4.7 million annually as of 2011 [update] . [6] In Canada, they are the third-busiest bridges after the Champlain Bridge in Montreal and the Ambassador Bridge.
The Port Huron–Point Edward Border Crossing connects the cities of Port Huron, Michigan, and Point Edward, 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 upgraded its inspection facilities in 2011, and Canada Border Services Agency upgraded its facilities in 2012. In 2017, inspectors at Port Huron processed 1,579,646 cars and 826,288 trucks. [7]
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. [8]
In 1935, the Michigan Legislature passed a law (Public Act 147 of 1935 [9] ) creating a State Bridge Commission to finance the design and erection of the main bridge structure of the Blue Water Bridge.In 1937, after plans proposed in 1927 to build a bridge spanning the St. Clair River languished during the Great Depression, the Michigan Highway Commission and the Minister of Highways for Canada hired Ralph Modjeski and Frank H. Masters and their Canadian associates, Charles Monsarrat and Philip Louis Pratley to design and build what would become the Blue Water Bridge. [10] 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 150 ft (46 m). Originally, Modjeski proposed a mammoth suspension-style bridge with tall towers and massive cable anchorages; however, because of the 150 ft (46 m) vertical clearance requirement for shipping, he opted instead for a cantilevered through-truss design.[ citation needed ] The commission was approved by the United States Congress in August 1935 (Public Law 411 of 1935 [11] ). 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. The first bridge was fully opened to traffic on October 10, 1938. [12] The lead engineer was Polish-born Ralph Modjeski. This bridge originally had two lanes for vehicles as well as sidewalks.
In the 1950s, the facilities were upgraded, and the bridge’s lighting was completely replaced. [13]
Both the U.S. and Canadian governments had agreed to operate the bridge toll-free once bonds were paid off. The U.S. side of the bridge became toll-free in February 1962, after the Governor John Swainson used an executive order to cancel the toll. This forced layoffs of the toll workers, one of which was his father. [14] In August 1962, the BWB Authority (BWBA) that operates the Canadian side of the bridge began collecting tolls of $0.25 from eastbound traffic while continuing to collect tolls from westbound traffic. In June 1963, the State of Michigan appropriated funds for the operation of its part of the bridge.. [15]
In 1964, the eastern terminus of I-94 was completed at the foot of the Blue Water Bridge on the American side. [16]
With the passage of the Executive Reorganization Act of 1965, the State Bridge Commission was abolished and its functions were transferred to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) , then called the Department of State Highways. [15]
In 1970, the U.S. Congress passed a law permitting Michigan to again collect tolls on the bridge. To comply with the law, the department had to repay the federal government $348,000 for the grant it received in 1938, which funded the approach road. That grant was repaid to the federal government and in September 1971, tolls were restored, however only collected in the eastbound direction on the Michigan side. [15]
In 1982, Highway 402 was completed, and the Canadian approach had already been modified. This provided a continuous freeway link to Highway 401 on the Canadian side. Around this time, the bridge's sidewalk was also removed; this was done to add a third Reversible lane on the roadway, as long lineups on each side's crossing were common.
In 1984, I-69 was completed to Port Huron which meant that three freeways converged on the three-lane bridge. [17] [18]
In 1985, the U.S. Congress allowed Michigan to increase the toll to create a state matching fund for proposed improvements to the bridge plaza. As a requirement for this authority, after the bonds for repayment of construction costs were retired, the tolls had to be reverted to levels sufficient to operate and maintain the structure and associated facilities. In July 1991, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) signed a "129A Agreement" with MDOT regarding the disposition of toll receipts. This agreement allowed the department to fund both the annual operating costs of the bridge and the state's matching share of the BWB Plaza Improvement Project. On the American side, the I-beam girder overpass crossing Pine Grove Avenue was replaced by a much wider embankment, which also added a four-story customs office building in the center. On the Canadian side, the original booths were demolished; they had been in use since 1938; while they were positively noted for their Art Deco style, they were too low to accommodate modern semi-trailer trucks which previously had to be directed to the outside. The $55 million plaza improvement project was completed in November 1996, at which the toll was reverted back to its original cost. [15] [19] [20]
In 1992, it was determined that traffic on the bridge had exceeded its rated capacity, [21] [22] 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 to 1995, 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 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 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. [23] 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. [23] 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. [24] The approaches to the new bridge use box girders, compared to the original which hold up the road deck with trusses. [25] The second three-lane bridge, just south of the first bridge, opened on July 22, 1997. [26] After the new bridge opened for traffic, the original bridge was restripped with three westbound lanes, and the flyover ramp was permanently closed and demolished.
In 2007, in accordance with Federal Identity Program requirements, the Blue Water Bridge Authority agreed on a name for the federal Crown corporate organization: Blue Water Bridge Canada. [27]
In March 2009, the Canadian government announced that C$13.5 million (US$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. [28] The US Customs and Border Protection would upgrade it on the US side, and the Canada Border Services Agency would upgrade it on the Canadian side. In 2011, the US side completed its plaza upgrades, and construction began to widen and improve both Highway 402 on the Canadian side [29] and I-94/I-69 on the American side. [30] In 2012, both the widening and the Canadian border upgrades were completed.
On April 1st 2015, the westbound span was closed to undergo resurfacing and waterproofing. [31]
In 2018, the piers of the westbound bridge had protectors installed, additionally, new gusset plates were built. [13]
On July 5th 2023, the westbound bridge was closed for blast cleaning, deck repairs, and other minor rehab work. [32] It was reopened on October 3rd, 2 days ahead of schedule. [33]
In 2020, cash was banned after the COVID-19 pandemic. It was made permanent by January 1st, 2024. [34]
Starting on May 29, 2024, the eastbound bridge was closed for maintenance, and all traffic was shifted onto the westbound bridge. [35]
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 terminus is in Port Huron, Michigan, where it meets with I-69 and crosses the Blue Water Bridge into Sarnia, Ontario, Canada, where the route becomes Ontario Highway 402. It thus lies along the primary overland route from Seattle to Toronto and is the only east–west Interstate Highway to have a direct connection to Canada.
St. Clair County is a county located in the U.S. state of Michigan and bordering the west bank of the St. Clair River. As of the 2020 census, the population was 160,383. It is the 13th-most populous county in the state. The county seat is Port Huron, located at the north end of the St. Clair River at Lake Huron. The county was created September 10, 1820, and its government was organized in 1821. It is located northeast of Detroit. It is considered by the State of Michigan to be a part of The Thumb, a peninsula that is surrounded by Lake Huron in the east-central area of the state. This area is sometimes dubbed the Blue Water Area.
Port Huron is a city in the U.S. state of Michigan and the county seat of St. Clair County. The population was 28,983 at the 2020 census. The city is bordered on the west by Port Huron Township, but the two are administered autonomously.
The Ambassador Bridge is an international suspension bridge across the Detroit River that connects Detroit, Michigan, United States, with Windsor, Ontario, Canada. Opened in 1929, the toll bridge is the busiest international border crossing in North America in terms of trade volume, carrying more than 25% of all merchandise trade between the United States and Canada by value. A 2004 Border Transportation Partnership study showed that 150,000 jobs in the Detroit–Windsor region and US$13 billion in annual production depend on the Detroit–Windsor international border crossing.
The St. Clair River is a 40.5-mile-long (65.2 km) river in central North America which flows from Lake Huron into Lake St. Clair, forming part of the international boundary between Canada and the United States and between the Canadian province of Ontario and the U.S. state of Michigan. The river is a significant component in the Great Lakes Waterway, whose shipping channels permit cargo vessels to travel between the upper and lower Great Lakes.
The Sault Ste. Marie International Bridge spans the St. Marys River between the United States and Canada connecting the twin cities of Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan and Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario. The bridge is operated by the International Bridge Administration under the direction of the Sault Ste. Marie Bridge Authority, a bi-national governing body consisting of four directors appointed by the Governor of Michigan and four appointed by the Canadian government-owned Federal Bridge Corporation.
Southern Ontario is a primary region of the Canadian province of Ontario. It is the most densely populated and southernmost region in Canada, with approximately 13.5 million people, approximately 36% of Canada's population of 37 million. The region lies south of the province's other primary region, Northern Ontario, although the exact northern boundary of Southern Ontario is disputed. However, its core region is situated south of Algonquin Park, the latter being in an area of transition between coniferous forest north of the French and Mattawa Rivers and southern deciduous forest. It covers between 14 and 15% of the province, depending on the inclusion of the Parry Sound and Muskoka districts which also lie in the transitional area between northern and southern forest regions. Southern Ontario differs greatly from Northern Ontario, having a much higher population density, a different climate, and a different culture than its northern counterpart. It is broken into smaller subregions, including Central Ontario, Eastern Ontario, the Golden Horseshoe, and Southwestern Ontario.
Lambton County is a county in Southwestern Ontario, Canada. It is bordered on the north by Lake Huron, which is drained by the St. Clair River, the county's western border and part of the Canada-United States border. To the south is Lake Saint Clair and Chatham-Kent. Lambton County's northeastern border follows the Ausable River and Parkhill Creek north until it reaches Lake Huron at the beach community of Grand Bend. The county seat is in the Town of Plympton-Wyoming.
The Thumb is a region and a peninsula of the U.S. state of Michigan, so named because the Lower Peninsula is shaped like a mitten. The Thumb area is generally considered to be in the Central Michigan region, east of the Flint area and the Tri-Cities and north of Metro Detroit. The region is also branded as the Blue Water Area.
The Detroit–Windsor tunnel, also known as the Detroit–Canada tunnel, is an international highway tunnel connecting the cities of Detroit, Michigan, United States and Windsor, Ontario, Canada. It is the second-busiest crossing between the United States and Canada, the first being the Ambassador Bridge, which also connects the two cities, which are situated on the Detroit River.
King's Highway 402, commonly referred to as Highway 402 and historically as the Blue Water Bridge Approach, is a 400-series highway in the Canadian province of Ontario that connects the Blue Water Bridge international crossing near Sarnia to Highway 401 in London. It is one of multiple trade links between Ontario and the Midwestern United States. It is four lanes for much of its length, though the approach to the Blue Water Bridge is six lanes.
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 1994, was the first full-size subaqueous tunnel built in North America. It is a National Historic Landmark of the United States, and has been designated a civil engineering landmark by both US and Canadian engineering bodies.
The International was a named passenger train operated between Chicago and Toronto. It was originally an overnight train operated by the Grand Trunk Railway of Canada and its successors the Canadian National Railway and Grand Trunk Western Railroad, running as far as Montreal. The train was cut back to Port Huron, Michigan, in 1970 and discontinued in 1971.
M-146 was a state trunkline highway in the US state of Michigan that initially served as a bypass for traffic going around Port Huron and as a short cut for traffic between U.S. Highway 25 and M-21. Later it connected to the Blue Water Bridge before it was truncated to its final form. Segments of M-146 still exist today as state highways as part of Interstate 94 (I-94) and I-69 and the Lapeer Connector.
King's Highway 40, commonly referred to as Highway 40, is a provincially maintained highway in the southwestern portion of the Canadian province of Ontario. The 91.4-kilometre (56.8 mi) route links Chatham and Sarnia via Wallaceburg, following close to the St. Clair River. The southern terminus is at Highway 401 south of Chatham, while the northern terminus is at Highway 402 in Sarnia. The portion of Highway 40 between Highway 401 and north of Wallaceburg is within the municipality of Chatham-Kent, while the portion north of there is within Lambton County.
Interstate 94 (I-94) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that runs from Billings, Montana, to the Lower Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway that enters the state south of New Buffalo and runs eastward through several metropolitan areas in the southern section of the state. The highway serves Benton Harbor–St. Joseph near Lake Michigan before turning inland toward Kalamazoo and Battle Creek on the west side of the peninsula. Heading farther east, I-94 passes through rural areas in the middle of the southern Lower Peninsula, crossing I-69 in the process. I-94 then runs through Jackson, Ann Arbor, and portions of Metro Detroit, connecting Michigan's largest city to its main airport. Past the east side of Detroit, the Interstate angles northeasterly through farmlands in The Thumb to Port Huron, where the designation terminates on the Blue Water Bridge at the Canada–United States border.
Interstate 69 (I-69) is a part of the Interstate Highway System that will eventually run from the Mexican border in Texas to the Canadian border at Port Huron, Michigan. In Michigan, it is a state trunkline highway that enters the state south of Coldwater and passes the cities of Lansing and Flint in the Lower Peninsula. A north–south freeway from the Indiana–Michigan border to the Lansing area, it changes direction to east–west after running concurrently with I-96. The freeway continues to Port Huron before terminating in the middle of the twin-span Blue Water Bridge while running concurrently with I-94 at the border. There are four related business loops for I-69 in the state, connecting the freeway to adjacent cities.
US Highway 25 (US 25) was a part of the United States Numbered Highway System in the state of Michigan that ran from the Ohio state line near Toledo and ended at the tip of The Thumb in Port Austin. The general routing of this state trunkline highway took it northeasterly from the state line through Monroe and Detroit to Port Huron. Along this southern half, it followed undivided highways and ran concurrently along two freeways, Interstate 75 (I-75) and I-94. Near the foot of the Blue Water Bridge in Port Huron, US 25 turned north and northwesterly along the Lake Huron shoreline to Port Austin.
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 Authority Act (Canada), which authorized it to provide highway traffic between Canada and the United States over the Blue Water Bridge. It was granted exclusive rights to levy tolls on westbound traffic from Canada to the United States in order to offset the costs of operation, maintenance, and construction.
The Port Huron–Sarnia Border Crossing connects the cities of Port Huron, Michigan and Sarnia, Ontario. It is located at the Blue Water Bridge at the St. Clair River.