This is a past event.

History of the Portage Crossing and Lift Bridge Construction

Bridgefest 2022

Join us on Saturday, June 18 at the Martha Wiljanen Community Hall in the Finnish American Heritage Museum (435 Quincy St, Hancock, MI 49930) for presentations about the history and significance of the Portage Lake Bridge!

At 10:00am, Michael Prast and Emma Beachy, Michigan Tech alumni and the co-authors of the report that nominated the Portage Lake Bridge for its Historic Landmark Award, will present on what made this bridge worthy of its designation as an ASCE National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. This will include a brief history of the Portage Lake crossing, the process it took to get the award, and a look at the features that make this bridge one-of-a-kind.

At 11:00am, Dr. Kris Mattila from the Michigan Tech Department of Civil, Environmental, and Geospatial Engineering will discuss how the bridge was built and show unique photographs from throughout the multi-year construction of the bridge.

Both presentations will be followed by time for questions. Feel free to come for one or both presentations!