Bascule Bridge - Lafayette Ave - Bay City, MI - U.S. National Register of Historic Places on Waymarking.com

The Lafayette Avenue Bridge, located in Bay City, carries M-84/M-13 over the Saginaw River. Completed in 1938, the Lafayette Avenue Bascule Bridge is at least the second movable span built on this spot. In 1934, the highway engineers posted maximum loads for three inadequate bridges from 1 ½ to 8 tons. Shortly after that the Lafayette Avenue Bridge was condemned, and this further focused attention to the pressing problem of bridge replacement.
Unfortunately, Depression-era financing prevented any action from being taken. Finally, after a city wide bridge survey was taken in 1936, a four-point plan was devised to replace and repair the city’s bridges. The program involved the immediate construction of a temporary pontoon swing span for the Lafayette Avenue structure, followed by construction of a new Lafayette Avenue Bridge, and the rehabilitation of the Belinda Street and Cass Avenue bridges. Financing help arrived in the form of Public Works Administration grants. The temporary pontoon bridge did duty over the Saginaw River for 3 ½ years. The bridge was finished in November 1938, eleven months after construction began.

The new bridge, which was awarded the A.I.S.C. award for the most beautiful moveable bridge of the year, is a Scherzer rolling lift-type with a rear break in the floor in front of the point of support with the bridge closed. Each leaf of the bridge is operated by two 25-hp motors. The lift can be opened for the passage of boats within 90 seconds. Both leaves of the bridge, as well as the traffic gates and signal, are operated from one operator’s house located at the east end bascule pier.


The photographs taken are from the west end looking east.

Street address: M13/M84 Bay City, MI USA County / Borough / Parish: Bay County Year listed: 1999 Historic (Areas of) Significance: Engineering, Transportation Periods of significance: 1925-1949 Historic function: Transportation/Bridge Current function: Transportation/Bridge Primary Web Site: [Web Link] Privately owned?: Not Listed Season start / Season finish: Not listed Hours of operation: Not listed Secondary Website 1: Not listed Secondary Website 2: Not listed National Historic Landmark Link: Not listed

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Date Logged Log User Rating   04/28/2009 Superted visited it

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