(Source: MIRS.news, Published 04/05/2024) The Michigan Department of Transportation (MDOT) will be resurfacing 2.1 miles of the Mackinac Bridge, which will take Michigan's largest bridge down to a two-lane highway until May 23. Meanwhile, the bridge holds a good condition rating.
The project, which started on March 27, was presented to the Mackinac Bridge Authority today. The entire resurface was planned to be done in two phases, the first phase closing the southbound lanes, and the second phase closing the northbound lanes in the early spring of 2025 through May 22 of that year.
The lane crossings were installed on Interstate 75 – prior to drivers entering Mackinac City – and before the tollbooths monitoring entry into the Upper Peninsula, because there was no way to put them on the bridge itself.
The presentation said the resurface was preceding a replacement of old bridge joints and would repair the excessive patching that has happened on the bridge.
“Every time we put a patch in, it creates a weakness that lets water get down (onto) the deck. We really want to slow that down,” Chief Bridge Engineer Cole Cavallieri said.
Cavallieri said if there was nothing done to the bridge, the deck of the Mighty Mac would need to be replaced by 2037. The projected cost of that would be $221 million. He said the deck would eventually need to be replaced, but the longer it was staved off, the more money could be socked away to pay for the replacement.
“You’ve saved motorists a tremendous amount of money,” Mackinac Bridge Authority member Kirk Steudle said.
Cavallieri said the yearly inspection of the bridge revealed it had a good condition rating and there were no priority projects that needed to be done to maintain its safety.
He said there could also be some changes to the way the bridge would be inspected starting in 2025 because of changes by the Federal Highway Administration.
Mackinac Bridge Director Kim Nowack said a beam was also fixed on the bottom of the bridge after a barge with a crane gouged it. The company responsible paid for the repairs.
“This is the most important piece of infrastructure in the state of Michigan,” Nowack said.
