On our summer 2016 road trip, we crossed some hefty sized bridges. There was both the Ambassador Bridge and Blue Water Bridge, both connecting Ontario with Michigan. There was the Deh Cho Bridge, crossing the MacKenzie River in Canada’s Northwest Territories. There was the Rock Island Centennial Bridge over the mighty Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois. But, the grandest of them all was the Mackinac Bridge.
The Mackinac connects the upper and lower peninsulas of the state of Michigan and spans a five mile or eight kilometre stretch of water. Not quite the length of the Lake Pontchartrain Bridge in Louisiana or the Confederation Bridge between New Brunswick and Prince Edward Island, the Mackinac Bridge is still nothing short of an amazing sight and an amazing accomplishment.
Click on any of the images in the gallery for the full sized high definition version. Below the image gallery are more details on this bridge and the others mentioned that we crossed this past summer.
Mackinac Bridge Image Gallery
Mackinac Bridge
Old Point Lighthouse
Blue Water Bridge
Deh Cho Bridge
Rock Island Centennial Bridge
Ambassador Bridge
Mackinac Bridge Image Gallery
For full-size versions of the photos in the image gallery, simply click on the individual pictures.
High resolution versions of these images and other photos from the same day are available at Dreamstime. Want to earn cash from your own photos? Why not sign up for free with Dreamstime and start submitting now: Become a paid photographer!
Mackinac Bridge
Opened on November 1, 1957, the Mackinac Bridge is 26,372 feet or 8,038 metres in total length. This equates to five miles or eight kilometres. This is the longest suspension bridge in the Western Hemisphere and still ranks as one of the longest in the world.
The bridge spans the Straits of Mackinac with Lake Michigan to the west and Lake Huron to the east. It connects upper and lower Michigan via Interstate 75. The highway that uses the bridge is one of the most important in the United States, starting in the north at Sault Ste. Marie on the Canadian border and ending at Miami in South Florida.
On the south side of the bridge is Mackinaw City. On the northern end is St. Ignace. Prior to 1957, the two parts of the state were connected by ferry only.
The highest point of the main towers of the suspension bridge reach a dizzying 552 feet or 168 metres. This is nearly the height of Detroit’s Penobscot Building which was the tallest skyscraper in the state when the bridge was built. The Penobscot stands at 565 feet high with 47 floors and was opened in 1928.
The Mackinac Bridge is closed one day each year and has been since 1958. The closure is for the Mackinac Bridge Walk where registered visitors can walk the whole span of the bridge. except for the first year of the event, it has been on labor day.
Old Point Lighthouse
The lighthouse pictured in the gallery above is adjacent to the Mackinac Bridge. Old Point Lighthouse was constructed in 1892 and deactivated in 1957, the year the bridge was built. It is part of Michilimackinac State Park and has been included in the National Register of Historic Places since 1969.
Compared To Our Other Bridges Crossed
Here’s a quick look at the other four bridges we mentioned above that were also part of our Summer 2016 road trip. Of course, the Mackinac was the longest but the others were in no way less magnificent in their own right.
Blue Water Bridge
The first bridge we crossed, leaving Ontario and entering Michigan, only to return to Ontario and handful of hours later at Sault Ste. Marie. The Blue Water Bridge connects Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan and has done so since October 10, 1938.
The Blue Water Bridge is 6,178 feet or 1,883 metres long as it crosses the St. Clair River, with Lake Huron in sight to the north.
The Blue Water Bridge can be seen prominently near the end of the following video of downtown Sarnia. If you like what you see, please give it a ‘Thumb’s Up’ in YouTube. We would be grateful if you’d consider subscribing to our YouTube Channel.
Sarnia and the Blue Water Bridge
Video edited with Corel VideoStudio Ultimate 2018.
Deh Cho Bridge
Deh Cho Bridge, which is Dene for MacKenzie River Bridge, opened on November 30, 2012 and crosses the MacKenzie River in Canada’s Northwest Territories. This bridge is 1.1 kilometres or .68 miles in length and connects the territorial capital Yellowknife by road with the rest of the country. Previously, the crossing was served by ferry and ice bridge. Just across the river is the town of Fort Providence.
On our road trip, we left our planned route across the bottom of the Northwest Territories on a road that curves around from Alberta and back into British Columbia, just to see the bridge. We did not go to Yellowknife, instead stopping in Fort Providence for lunch before returning on our way.
Rock Island Centennial Bridge
The Rock Island Centennial Bridge opened on July 12, 1940. This bridge spans the Mississippi River between Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois in the Quad Cities Area. The distance across is 4,447 feet or 1,355 metres.
We stayed in Moline, Illinois in the Quad Cities Area for the last two nights of our journey. It was time to relax in a nice hotel room with a nice indoor pool outside our door before getting back into home life. I was able to get down along the Mississippi for some great night shots of the Rock Island Centennial Bridge. The July heat and humidity was a bit of a challenge as the lens was constantly fogging up.
Ambassador Bridge
Opening on November 11, 1929, the Ambassador Bridge has long been the connection between Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario. The suspension bridge is 7,500 feet or 2,300 kilometres in length and crosses the Detroit River. Lake St. Clair is a short distance to the north and Lake Erie is not far to the south.
If it wasn’t for the desire to see Detroit, one of our favourite places, we absolutely would not have gone home this way. It is a construction nightmare from the Indiana border, mostly all the way to the border with Canada. There is the option to head north and east to cross at Port Huron and that certainly would have been the less stressful way to go.
As with the Blue Water Bridge above, the Ambassador Bridge is shown prominently in another of our driving tour videos. The bridge is shown late in this driving tour video: Downtown Windsor, Ontario.
