The Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge that crosses the St. Clair River. It connects Port Huron, Michigan, United States, to Point Edward, Ontario, Canada. The bridge links Highway 402 in Ontario to Interstate 69 and Interstate 94 in Michigan. The original bridge opened in 1938, and another bridge was added in 1997.

Description

The original bridge is a cantilever truss bridge, with a total length of 6,178 feet (1,883 meters) and a main span of 871 feet (265 meters). The newer bridge is a continuous bowstring arch bridge, with a total length of 6,109 feet (1,862 meters) and a main span of 922 feet (281 meters).

The Blue Water Bridges are owned and maintained by Canada and the United States. Federal Bridge Corporation, a Crown corporation of the Government of Canada, manages the Canadian side. The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) manages the U.S. side. A toll is collected for crossing the bridges, and the money is used for maintenance and operations.

Together, the two bridges connect Chicago and the Midwestern United States to Toronto and the Northeastern United States. They are one of the four shortest land routes between the U.S. Midwest and Northeast. The bridges are the second-busiest commercial crossing on the Canada–U.S. border, after the Ambassador Bridge in Detroit-Windsor. They are also the fourth-busiest overall international crossing in Ontario, with 4.7 million vehicles crossing annually as of 2011. In Canada, they are the third-busiest bridges, following the Samuel-De Champlain Bridge in Montreal and the Ambassador Bridge.

The Port Huron–Sarnia Border Crossing connects Port Huron, Michigan, and Point Edward, Ontario, at the Blue Water Bridge. Both the U.S. and Canadian border stations operate 24 hours a day. In 2011, U.S. Customs and Border Protection upgraded its inspection facilities. In 2012, Canada Border Services Agency upgraded its facilities. In 2017, inspectors at Port Huron processed 1,579,646 cars and 826,288 trucks.

History

A U.S. Port of Entry was established at the location in 1836 when a license was given to provide commercial ferry service between Port Huron and a place then called Port Sarnia. The license was given to a Canadian man named Crampton, who operated a sailboat. In the 1840s, a man named Davenport, also from Port Sarnia, operated a pony-powered vessel. Steam-powered vessels and paddle wheelers followed, but the first vessel capable of carrying automobiles arrived in 1921.

In 1935, the Michigan Legislature passed a law (Public Act 147 of 1935) to create a State Bridge Commission to fund the design and construction of the main structure of the Blue Water Bridge. In 1937, after plans to build a bridge across the St. Clair River were delayed during the Great Depression, the Michigan Highway Commission and the Canadian Minister of Highways hired Ralph Modjeski and Frank H. Masters, along with Canadian engineers Charles Monsarrat and Philip Louis Pratley, to design and build the Blue Water Bridge. Modjeski, a Polish-born engineer known as "America's greatest bridge builder," led the project. Modjeski faced challenges from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which required the bridge to allow navigation for military and commercial vessels. The bridge could not block water traffic, could not use floating platforms, and had to clear the water by 150 feet (46 meters).

Originally, Modjeski proposed a very large suspension-style bridge with tall towers and large cable anchorages. However, because of the 150-foot (46-meter) clearance requirement, he chose a cantilevered through-truss design instead. The commission was approved by the U.S. Congress in August 1935 (Public Law 411 of 1935), which allowed the sale of bonds to be repaid by toll revenue ($0.25 per traveler) collected over 30 years. The first bridge opened to traffic on October 10, 1938, and had two vehicle lanes and sidewalks.

In the 1950s, the bridge’s lighting was completely replaced. Both the U.S. and Canadian governments agreed to operate the bridge toll-free once bonds were paid off. The U.S. side became toll-free in February 1962 after Governor John Swainson canceled the toll through an executive order. This action led to the loss of jobs for toll workers, including his father. In August 1962, the Blue Water Bridge Authority (BWBA) began collecting tolls of $0.25 from eastbound traffic while continuing to collect tolls from westbound traffic. In June 1963, the State of Michigan funded the operation of its part of the bridge.

In 1964, the eastern end of I-94 was completed at the foot of the Blue Water Bridge on the American side. The State Bridge Commission was abolished in 1965 by the Executive Reorganization Act, and its duties were transferred to the Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT), then called the Department of State Highways.

In 1970, the U.S. Congress allowed Michigan to collect tolls again. To comply with the law, Michigan repaid the federal government $348,000 for a 1938 grant that funded the approach road. Tolls were restored in September 1971 but were collected only in the eastbound direction on the Michigan side.

In 1982, Highway 402 was completed, and the Canadian approach was modified to connect to Highway 401. Around this time, the bridge’s sidewalk was removed to add a third reversible lane, as traffic backups were common. In 1984, I-69 was completed to Port Huron, creating three freeways that converged on the three-lane bridge.

In 1985, the U.S. Congress allowed Michigan to increase tolls to create a state matching fund for bridge plaza improvements. After construction bonds were paid off, tolls were reduced to levels needed for operations. In July 1991, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) signed a "129A Agreement" with MDOT, allowing toll revenue to fund bridge operations and the BWB Plaza Improvement Project. On the American side, the I-beam girder overpass on Pine Grove Avenue was replaced with a wider embankment and a four-story customs office. On the Canadian side, original toll booths (used since 1938) were demolished because they were too low for modern trucks. The $55 million plaza improvement project was completed in November 1996, and tolls returned to original levels.

In 1992, traffic on the bridge exceeded its rated capacity, so a second span was added. Between 1994 and 1995, five bridge designs were proposed. The parallel chord truss and single-span tied-arch designs were unpopular, while a duplicate of the first bridge and a cable-stayed bridge received more support. However, the Blue Water Bridge Authority rejected these options. The continuous-tied arch design, which was a distant third in public opinion, was chosen because it blended with the original bridge and had lower maintenance costs. The design was controversial at first but was modified to complement the original bridge. Engineers used concrete piers and steel towers, and designed the main span with an innovative low arch that merged the traffic deck with structural steel. This reduced costs and improved the bridge’s appearance. The new bridge approaches used concrete hammer-head piers instead of steel piers, making the new bridge easier to distinguish from the old one. Due to manufacturing differences, the Americans used large pre-cast concrete components.