Political Winds Threaten the Mackinac Bridge on its 61st Birthday

Gov. Rick Snyder is pushing by year’s end to bind the Mackinac Bridge Authority for least 99 years to owning and overseeing not just the bridge, but also Snyder’s proposed oil tunnel under the Mackinac Straits for use by Enbridge, a private Canadian oil pipeline company with a terrible track record of oil spills and damage across Michigan. Barbara Brown, vice chair of the Mackinac Bridge Authority, is urging the public and elected officials to protect the Mackinac Bridge from Enbridge. Ms. Brown is an extremely well-informed voice, having served on the bridge authority since 2005. Public service on behalf of the bridge is part of her family’s legacy. Her grandfather Prentiss Brown (see accompanying photo) was the first chairman of the bridge authority’s board, on which he served from 1950 to 1973, including several years before and during construction of the Mighty Mac.

 

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A few facts about the Mackinac Bridge
(from the Mackinac Bridge Authority):

• The Mackinac Bridge is 5 miles long (26,372 ft)

• The main towers stand 552 ft above the water

• The towers reach 210 ft below the water

• There are 42,000 miles of wire in the cables

• The bridge weighs 1,024,500 Tons

• It took 85,000 blueprints to fully design the bridge

• Construction began: May 7, 1954

• The Mackinac Bridge was open to traffic: November 1, 1957

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