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Grand Haven US 31 Bridges
Grand
River Swing
Bridge
Hailed as the “State’s greatest bridge” in the trunk line system,
this bridge was built by the Michigan State Highway Department and the City of Grand Haven
at a cost of $250,000. The swing bridge opened
on November 11, 1924, was 512 feet in length, and connected Seventh Street in
Grand Haven to Ferrysburg. The swing
was operated by electric motors and the draw could be opened in thirty seconds.
It replaced a hand-operated interurban bridge that was located a block to
the east and connected with Spring
Lake. On
April 18, 1959
, the swing bridge was engulfed in flames when a
cigarette butt hit the pilings. It
continued to be used until the end of the year when the Brown Brothers
Construction Company demolished it.
The library wishes to thank Wallace K.
Ewing, PhD. for permission to use text from his book A Topical Directory
of the History of Northwest Ottawa County, distributed by the Tri-Cities
Historical Museum.
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image to enlarge. It may take a few moments for image to load.
B/W photo of Tom Johnston’s tug STAMINA pushing gravel barge on
Grand River
through open swing bridge.
Looking east.
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B/W photo of US31 swing bridge, looking east.
1950s
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Current
Grand Haven US-31 Bascule Drawbridge
The project to construct a new bascule drawbridge over the
Grand River
on US-31 began on
May 2, 1957
by Brown Brothers Construction Company.
Michigan State Highway Dept. plans, published in the Grand
Haven Daily Tribune on May 16, 1957, proposed a new drawbridge located to
the west of the old swing bridge, built in 1924, connecting Grand Haven and
Ferrysburg. The US-31 drawbridge
came with a price tag of $3,000,000 and an 18-month projected completion time.
The plans also proposed further bridge construction to replace the jackknife
bridge linking Spring Lake and Ferrysburg. Construction
on the drawbridge was half completed by March 1958 and was expected to be
finished by the end of the year, but the project was held up due to a steel
strike. The new US-31 opened on June
12, 1959 and consists of 9 spans, is 750 feet long, and clears the river channel
by about 25 feet.
Text by
Wally Ewing
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