1891: (Bridge Hunter, the only reference I found now responds with the dreaded 404)
1921: (Bridge Hunter, a swing bridge)
1926: (Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges)2015: (Bridge Hunter; 3D Satellite)
Along with the Dix Avenue and Jefferson Avenue Bridges, this bridge was built when the Rouge River was expanded to 300' wide and 22' deep in the 1920s to support the Ford Steel Plant.
This site was the location of some labor protests that helped found the UAW. See atdetroit for more details.
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| Busterwmu comment in atdetroit via BridgeHunter-1926, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA) This is the view from the River heading downstream approaching the Fort St. drawbridge. As Fort St. opens, you can see that the Ns Bridge is already up for us. The I-75 overpass is also in the background. |
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| Busterwmu comment in atdetroit, License: Creative Commons Attribution-Share-Alike (CC BY-SA) Here is the other side of the Fort Bridge, looking UpRiver. The M/V Diamond Belle is shown coming through the Bridge. Note the single bridge tower, and the arches used for the streetcar wires. |
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| Public Domain, provided by Nathan Holth to BridgeHunter-1926 from HistoricBridges |
I came across a couple of links to MDOT environmental studies. Unfortunately, both of them now return a 404. (I have found that DOTs are real bad about retaining the integrity of their URLs.) Fortunately, Historic Bridges made a local copy of an environmental study.
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| HistoricBridges-study, p45 |
A modern rolling bridge is rather rare. And I think this is the first one I have seen that uses pony trusses.
The railroad and I-75 bridges in the background made it easy to locate this bridge.
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| Andrew Dean Detroit posted |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Andrew's post 42°17'29.2"N 83°08'32.2"W |
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| Street View |
A photo taken from Herbert C. Jackson after it delivered ore to Cliffs Steel.
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| 1 of 10 photos posted by Andrew Dean Detroit Dix avenue bridge just closed - A Crew member calls out distances and positions to the pilot house as they traverse the narrow route of the Rouge. |
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| Dennis DeBruler commented on Andrew's post When I tried to find the concrete silos in the background on a satellite map, I discovered that this is the Fort Street Bridge instead of the Dix Avenue Bridge. A blue pony truss instead of a deck truss confirms that this is the Ford Street Bridge. |
This view shows the signature arc member of a Scherzer rolling bridge. When I saw that the rack is slanted upwards away from the river, I looked closer at the arc member. It is not a segment of a circle. I think the radius becomes smaller as it rolls backward. I wonder how far down bedrock is here because rolling bridges need large foundations that won't move. The Sanitary District in Chicago built a lot of Scherzer bridges when they reversed the river, but Chicago designed trunnion bridges to replace them. Chicago was responsible for bridge maintenance and they discovered that the two piers did not remain perfectly parallel when built on a swamp. It is worth noting that Joliet still has its Scherzer bridges because that town is built on limestone, not a swamp.
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| Photo from DetroitNews, DAVID GURALNICK / THE DETROIT NE The tugboat Rebecca Lynn pushes a barge along the Rouge River under the newly re-opened Fort Street bridge. |
Unfortunately, this plan doesn't show the details of the rack and pinion.
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| Plans via Hathan Holth comment on BridgeHunter-2015 "The structure was designed by Hardesty and Hanover." |
The text associated with the Hardesty and Hanover (H&H) Google search is: "Experts in infrastructure engineering and kinetic systems structures." I love it when I learn a new PR term for an old concept. I guess "kinetic systems structures" means movable bridges. Now that I think about it, kenetic systems would also include movable roofs for stadiums.
Three photos from H&H's Fort Street project web page via projects/bridges. The bridge provides a 135' navigation channel.
The new Fort Street Bridge is the heaviest bascule leaf in the world at 8.2 million pounds and the second largest by deck area at over 15,000 square feet. The design, which had to account for obstructions in the footprint of the new bascule pier, utilizes a single-leaf bascule with an overhead counterweight, a first on the MDOT system. Due to the efficient rolling-lift design, it requires minimal power to operate the bascule span under normal conditions. However, the two 150-HP motors will move the bascule span during high wind and heavy ice conditions. Stringers, floorbeams, and two 13-foot deep pony trusses support the steel grid-reinforced concrete deck.The bridge is a vital part of an overall Fort-Rouge Gateway Project that focuses on historic heritage and on pedestrian and bicycle-friendly improvements. The Governor’s Michigan Showcase Trail (also known as the Iron Belle Trail and the North Country Trail runs from Belle Isle to Wisconsin), Underground Railroad Bicycle Route (which goes from Mobile, Alabama to Ontario), and the United States Bicycle Route System will all utilize the bridge.
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Someone did a "Blues Brothers" on the bridge in Sep 2020 with a sedan. Unfortunately, a news report did not say how high the bridge got before the operator hit the emergency stop. The driver did bust both bridge gates and blow out all four of his tires. The Blues Brothers stunt double jumped a twin leaf bridge (95th Street Bridge in Chicago), I imagine the physics of the landing is different for a single leaf bridge.
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| 1 of 6 photos posted by Pamela Mogielski Brown Hon James L Oberstar 6/8/22 |
5 of 10 photos posted by Andrew Dean Detroit with the comment: "A series of tight squeezes. Lee A Tregurtha traverses out of the Rouge River. Lee is the longest ship to pass through the Rouge, it’s amazing to see the ship slip down between another ship in such tight quarters."
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5 of 12 photos posted by Andrew Dean Detroit with the comment: "Some pictures from the day Iver Bright was Towed out of the Rouge, something about a slow rolling ship getting led by tugs. Detroit, MI."
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| Jeff Ray posted, cropped Coming down the rouge river and heading out to the Detroit river |
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