Mackinac Bridge

The Mackinac Bridge (ˈmækənɔː ; also referred to as the Mighty Mac or Big Mac) is a suspension bridge that connects the Upper and Lower peninsulas of the U.S. state of Michigan. It spans the Straits of Mackinac, a body of water connecting Lake Michigan and Lake Huron, two of the Great Lakes. Opened in 1957, the bridge is the world's 27th-longest main span and is the longest suspension bridge between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. The Mackinac Bridge is part of Interstate 75 (I-75) and the Lake Michigan and Huron components of the Great Lakes Circle Tour across the straits; it is also a segment of the U.S. North Country National Scenic Trail. The bridge connects the city of St. Ignace to the north with the village of Mackinaw City to the south. Envisioned since the 1880s, the bridge was designed by the engineer David B. Steinman and completed in 1957 only after many decades of struggles to begin construction. The bridge has since become an iconic symbol of the state of Michigan. The bridge opened on November 1, 1957, connecting two peninsulas linked for decades by ferries. At the time, the bridge was formally dedicated as the "world's longest suspension bridge between anchorages", allowing a superlative comparison to the Golden Gate Bridge, which has a longer center span between towers, and the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, which has an anchorage in the middle. It remains the longest suspension bridge with two towers between anchorages in the Western Hemisphere. Much longer anchorage-to-anchorage spans have been built in the Eastern Hemisphere, including the Akashi Kaikyō Bridge in Japan (), but the long leadups to the anchorages on the Mackinac make its total shoreline-to-shoreline length of 26,372 feet — 28 feet short of — longer than the Akashi Kaikyo (). The length of the bridge's main span is , which makes it the third-longest suspension span in the United States and 27th longest suspension span worldwide. It is also one of the world's longest bridges overall.

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Related concepts (7)

Ferry

A ferry is a watercraft that carries passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water taxi or water bus. Ferries form a part of the public transport systems of many waterside cities and islands, allowing direct transit between points at a capital cost much lower than bridges or tunnels. Ship connections of much larger distances (such as over long distances in water bodies like the Mediterranean Sea) may also be called ferry services, and many carry vehicles.

Mackinac Island

Mackinac Island (ˈmækənɔː , ˈmækənə ; Île Mackinac; Mishimikinaak ᒥᔑᒥᑭᓈᒃ; Michilimackinac) is an island and resort area, covering in land area, in the U.S. state of Michigan. The name of the island in Odawa is Michilimackinac and "Mitchimakinak" in Ojibwemowin meaning "Great Turtle". It is located in Lake Huron, at the eastern end of the Straits of Mackinac, between the state's Upper and Lower Peninsulas. The island was long home to an Odawa settlement and previous indigenous cultures before European colonization began in the 17th century.

Mackinac Bridge