The Mighty Mac Took a Punch From a Crane and Now Needs Repairing
The Mackinac Bridge that connects Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas is a sight for sore eyes, and due to a crane, the Mighty Mac has a sore eye, sort of.
The Mackinac Bridge
The Mackinac Bridge, also known as the Mighty Mac or Big Mack is a suspension bridge in Michigan that began letting vehicles cross from the Lower to the Upper Peninsula in 1957.
I have seen the view above serval times as I'm returning from my friend's place in Iron River, Michigan. This is a view from U.S. 2 just before you cross the Might Mac back to the Lower Peninsula.
Mackinac Bridge Maintenance
A bridge the size of the Mighty Mac requires a bit of maintenance and inspections. The bridge is currently going through the last phases of the reapplication of primer and surface paint. There are also joint repairs, deck grating replacements, and truss member beam repairs. So there is a lot of bridge maintenance to keep workers plenty busy year around. What happens when there is an accident?
Mackinac Bridge Recently Damaged By Accident
A lot of huge ships pass under the Mackinac Bridge daily. Many of the ships haul huge shipping containers so most large ships have their own cranes on board to lift the containers off from the deck.
In early May, a ship crossing under the Might Mac had its crane a bit too high and it smacked into the bridge. No one noticed at the time the ship's crane had hit the bridge until the next day when workers noticed the damage to the crane.
As you can see in the photo above, ships come pretty close to the bottom of a bridge without a crane raised too high so you can see how easy it would be for something like this to happen.
According to 9and10news, the crane boom that hit the Mackinac Bridge did leave a mark, scraped off some paint and a little repair work will be needed. The good news is the bridge is structurally sound and will be fine for holiday travel over the Memorial weekend.
