Ironworker Recalls Days on Bridge
By Karen Gould

Ironworker Basil Miller worked on the Mackinac Bridge the year before it was open to traffic. On Thursday, July 26, the Cheboygan man visited Bridge View Park in St. Ignace during the bridge token dedication ceremony to honor bridge designer and engineer Dr. David Steinman. Mr. Miller stands by the fog bell that once hung at the base of the south tower and served to guide vessels during reduced visibility. The bell was replaced with a foghorn in 1961.

"No job intimidated me after that," said Mackinac Bridge ironworker Basil Miller, 73, a member of Local 25, who visited the site of his former job to attend a dedication ceremony for a new bridge token Thursday, July 26, at St. Ignace.

In early May 1956, Mr. Miller, then 22, went to work compacting, or "spinning," the main cables of the bridge.

"That was my first job," he said. "It was really quite an experience."

The catwalk already was in place when Mr. Miller began working on the bridge. More than four months later, he was drafted into the U.S. Army, where he spent the next two years.

He worked with the afternoon shift crew laying the single strands of cables. Weather permitting, bridge construction continued around the clock, with two shifts lasting 12 hours.

Getting to the job site was a challenge, he said, as it took him about two hours. Since he came from Cheboygan, first he traveled by ferry from Mackinaw City to St. Ignace. Once in St. Ignace, he sailed on a barge with other crew members to an anchor pier. From there, the crew walked up to the tower on the catwalk.

"I had no fear at the time," he said.

After serving in the Army, Mr. Miller continued to work as an ironworker until he retired in 1999, after more than 35 years on the job.

As the temperatures reached into the 70s Thursday and breezes were mild, Mr. Miller said on days similar to this, stringing the cable more than 500 feet above the water brought completely different conditions.

Above the Straits, winds would be two or three times stronger on the catwalk than they were in St. Ignace, he said.

"At this time of the year, I had to put as many clothes on as I could," he said. "It was so cold up there, you couldn't believe it."

The challenge was to make sure clothing was not loose. To help the men avoid tripping, falling, or getting caught on something, clothes had to be tight fitting, he said.

Safety measures were handled differently in the 1950s, he said. The men each had a four- to five-foot rope they called a lanyard. The lanyard was attached to each worker's belt and the other end tied to an object, when crew members felt it necessary.

"It was the only lifeline we had," he said. "And we attached it when we were in a position we thought we might need it."

Mr. Miller has made Cheboygan his home since 1940.