The late George Saunders at the helm of a derrick during the construction of the Mackinac Bridge in the late 1950s. Mr. Saunders was featured in a news service article for being a “mudslinger” on the Mackinac Bridge. (Photograph courtesy of Richard Saunders) The following article was published in The Republican-News December 1, 1955 issue. It features the late George R. Saunders, who was a derrick operator during the construction of the Mackinac Bridge. Mr. Saunders passed away 15 years ago.

His son, Richard, a retired iron worker who also worked on the building of the Mackinac Bridge, lives in St. Ignace with his wife, Arlene. Mr. Saunders’ daughter, Shirley Boe, lives in Duluth, Minnesota.

George Saunders also worked on the construction of the lift bridge in Sault Ste. Marie and in Houghton, the White Pine copper mine, the ore docks in Escanaba, and on Bomark missiles in Dafter, which were used to test the radar net along the perimeters of the United States.

The Associated Press reports that George R. Saunders of St. Ignace takes pride in his reputation as a mudslinger. In his occupation as a derrick operator on the Straits Bridge, it’s a work of distinction.

Since 1953, Saunders probably has moved more Straits mud than any human in history. He was one of the first derrick operators hired when Merritt-Chapman & Scott started construction of a pipeline across the Straits.

Saunders believes a Great Lakes record of some kind was set on that job.

“We had the big scoops down 250 feet in places to clear a path for the pipeline,” he says.

In 1954, he was at the controls of a derrick spudding ice from Moran Bay, enabling the construction fleet to begin operation. Saunders’ derrick set pilings for survey towers and cofferdams and dug tons of mud for dams and caissons in 1954.

Saunders, a native of Green Bay, Wisconsin, moved to St. Ignace in pursuit of a commercial fishing career. He left the declining fishing industry in 1942 to try his hand at derrick operations.

He has worked for various firms on marine projects in Michigan and Wisconsin and now is employed by American Bridge Company on the multi-million dollar Straits span.

Saunders manipulates 14 levers in maneuvering the derrick boom. Recently, his job outlook has switched from lowly mud to overhead operations.

He lifts workmen and steel skyward, balanced on the tip of the 160-foot boom.

“A fellow’s got to be a lot more careful how he handles one of these things now,” he says. He also guides huge steel beams into place 124 feet above his derrick cab, where riveting crews wait to “tack” them into place.