What caused the Mackinac Bridge to close temporarily in mid-December?
The Mackinac Bridge, the third-longest suspension span in the US at 5 miles, was closed to high profile traffic due to high winds on December 15th, 2008. As of midday, only passenger cars and pickups with empty cargo spaces were being allowed to cross the Mackinac Bridge. Trucks were permitted to cross with an escort later in the day. A friend of mine was in one of the cars that was allowed to cross the bridge! She said that they were the only ones on the bridge, and it was very weird. The high winds cause twisting of the bridge, and she said there were huge gaps in the expansion pieces. Being originally from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, she didn’t seem too concerned about all this, but I would have been terrified! There are people who are afraid to drive over bridges, including semi truck drivers, and they have people at each side of the bridge specially trained to do the driving for those people. I can’t imagine having that fear and driving across under high wind conditions! Lear
