Mackinac Bridge Work To Begin Soon

The east side of the Mackinac Bridge will be closed for more than two months when the concrete and bituminous portion of the deck is resurfaced. Two-way traffic will be maintained on the two west-side lanes, but passing will be prohibited. Speed limits will remain 45 miles per hour for passenger vehicles, but the 20-mile-per-hour speed limit for trucks, with no passing, will slow traffic.

The project is scheduled from April 14 to the end of June. Preliminary road work may begin as early as April 7, with temporary inside lane closures during daylight hours.

The primary contractor for the project is Payne and Dolan of Gladstone and Gaylord.

The $3.2 million resurfacing includes repairs to steel joints and replacement of the concrete curb.

A similar project on the west side is scheduled for 2009.

The last time the deck was resurfaced was in 1993. This project should add another 10 years to the deck life, at which time a complete deck replacement, including the supporting beams under the roadway, is scheduled.

That $190 million project will begin in 2017.

The bridge deck has three components, the concrete and bituminous surface, the open steel grate lanes, and the beams that support the deck. The bridge has 752 open grate sections, and crews replace about 12 of them annually in an ongoing project.

During the resurfacing project, wide loads will be restricted to crossing once a day during slower traffic periods.