Mackinac Bridge

Although it will mean that their father can no longer make a living running a ferry boat, thirteen-year-old Mark and his brother Luke are excited about the building of a five-mile bridge across the Straits of Mackinac in Michigan in 1957.

With a total span length of 8,344 feet from anchor block to anchor block, the Mackinac Bridge is the longest suspension bridge in the world. It surpasses the Golden Gate Bridge, the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge, and the Humber Bridge in England, even with their longer center spans. Every phase of construction of the Mackinac Bridge was photographed. The pictures in this book, selected from 3,000 black-and-white photos, document important stages of the monumental undertaking. Captions detail the procedures used during construction. The result is a volume which captures the struggles and the hardships, as well as the determination and the pride of the men who labored to build Mighty Mac.

Chronicles the history of the Mackinac Bridge in Michigan, the longest suspension bridge in the United States, from the struggles to support its creation to its resilience to hits by man-made structures and Mother Nature.

Set in the late 1950s, this is the moving story of a young boy whose father operates a ferryboat between Michigan's Upper and Lower peninsulas. As young Mark witnesses the building of the new Mackinac Bridge, he is torn between family loyalty and eager anticipation. He can't help being awestruck by the majesty of the five-mile-long bridge that will connect the two peninsulas and change the lives of so many. But the Mighty Mac will also put Mark's father out of business. As his father struggles with the flow of progress, Mark dreams of future bridges he will build. Details of the complex construction of the bridge will fascinate children as they learn an important part of America's history and come to understand the meaning of change. The Mackinac Bridge Authority provides history notes at the back of the book.

The project-the longest total suspension bridge in the world-would span the Starits of Mackinac where winds exceed eighty miles an hour and ice windrows reach a height of forty feet. It would connect two largely rural communities with a combined population of less than four thousand and would require the largest bond issue ever proposed for the construction of a bridge. Little wonder that some Wall Street investors labeled the proposition as ludicrous. Nonetheless, the Mackinac Bridge became a reality.

I want to turn up one of those seasonal roads which lead off of M-119 fronted by rectangular white signs warning that the roads are not plowed in winter. I could drive far enough off the main road that no one would see us when we stop. You might not even ask why I am doing it. In The Mackinac Bridge Wrote Me a Letter Hills glimpses into life vary from humorous to poignant to fanciful to observational. Topics include a drive on M-119 through the Tunnel of Trees, a hawks posture, mouse coffee, the last swim of the year, and the opening of deer season. Hill also reminisces about watching Johnny Green and the Michigan State Spartans play the Indiana Hoosiers at the old IU Fieldhouse. Hill recalls wondering if he would meet another Frank Hill and he revisits canoeing across the Straits of Mackinac to impress a girlfriend his first summer on Mackinac Island. Hill even admits to some of his nighttime dreams, thereby lending credence to his wifes claim that he may not be as normal as pumpkin pie.