Archive for category History
A Big Slow Ship
Posted by Mark Riutta in History, Portage Canal, Portage Lift Bridge on October 12th, 2009

The freighter Algosoo waits before passing under the Portage Lift Bridge.
At 730 feet long the freighter Algosoo is quite large. Not the biggest on the Great Lakes, but probably one of the biggest ever to come through the Portage Canal and pass under the Lift Bridge. It’s also slow as would be testified unanimously by any driver waiting for it to pass so the Bridge could be lowered again.

The freighter Algosoo realigns its approach to the Portage Lift Bridge.
A Good Walk In Jamaica
Posted by Mark Riutta in History on June 7th, 2009

Aqua Duct
So here I am. A morning in Jamaica. What a novel idea it would be to just grab my camera and see what interesting things I could find to photograph. Of course the trick would be finding something I haven’t taken pictures of yet.
A Bridge For All Seasons
In my frequent travels to visit that someone special in the Hancock, I am forced (against my will of course) to cross the only bridge that connects the Keweenaw from the rest of us.
It is a great bridge and yes it seems quite dependable. But at times I often wonder… what would happen if the bridge broke? On one occasion I have posed that question to my girlfriend (that special someone who lives “over the bridge”). Her response? “They’d figure something out”. As it turns out they have had this problem in the past and yes, they have figured something out.
The Portage Canal Lift Bridge is the 3rd bridge to span the portage canal and on one occasion in the past one of those bridges actually collapsed. It was a long time ago, before cell phones of course. Apparently there was some confusion with hand signals between the bridge operator and a steamer. Sounds like a cell phone would have come in handy doesn’t it. The collision took out a portion of the bridge so if your last name wasn’t Knievel it was not a good day.
So I guess Lori was right (was there ever a doubt?!?). They did figure something out. They used ferries just like they did before there were bridges.
If you want to learn more about the history of the bridges that spanned the Portage Canal there is a great article that I ran across while trying to learn a little more about that great bridge we all take for granted. Click here to access the article on Pasty.com.
Below are a few of the images I have captured of the intriguing bridge taken this past year. It always begs for a photo from me. I’m glad it does.





