FROM DREAMS TO REALITY
The ease of traveling through the Locks or over the St. Mary’s Rapids is now taken for granted but the dreams of building these structures began over a hundred years ago, just after Michigan became a state in 1837.
Traveling from one side of the river to the other first began in canoes. Bands of Ojibwa Indians would camp and fish at the rapids they called “Bawating”, meaning rushing water.
The rapids became a gathering point for as many as 50,000 Native Americans each summer, for centuries.
In the 1600’s it became a settlement for French explorers and fur traders.
Through wars control of the rapids went to the British in the mid 1700’s and finally, a shared border with the United States in the 1800’s.
As copper and iron ore were discovered in the western Upper Peninsula in 1830, ship traffic increased but had to be portaged over land at the rapids. This difficult task eventually led to construction of the first lock in 1855, and the second in 1871, a joint venture between the State of Michigan and the U.S. Government.
In 1880, the first land transportation over the river between the U.S. and Canada was established with a railroad bridge. In 1895, the Canadian Lock was completed.
In 1943 and 1969 two other U.S. locks were built, one of which is capable of carrying the 1000 ft. super freighters.
From the 1880’s til the 1960’s the only forms of transportation across the St. Mary’s River, between the two Saults, were ferries and the railroad bridge.
The inconvenience and delays of those days have been eliminated, thanks to the International Bridge.
SAULT STE. MARIE
“Rapids Of Sainte Mary”
INTERNATIONAL BRIDGE
Nearly a decade of engineering study, legislative action in Lansing, Washington, Toronto, and Ottawa, and the sale of bonds to finance the project preceded construction of the bridge. Michigan Governor G. Mennen Williams and Ontario Treasurer James N. Allen were the main participants in groundbreaking ceremonies for construction of the bridge on September 16, 1960.
Dr. Carl Gronquist of the consulting engineering firm, Steinman, Boynton, Gronquist and Birdsall, designed the two-mile long bridge supported on 62 piers that would cost $20,000,000. The Michigan State Highway Department agreed to construct the Michigan approach to the bridge, a project costing very close to $4,000,000, which was tied into the Interstate Freeway system and financed 90 percent by federal funds. The International Bridge Authority then proposed a bond issue of $16,250,000 to raise the remainder of the money.
The issue was divided into $8,400,000 in Series A bonds to be sold on the New York market, and $7,850,000 in Series B bonds, all to be retired within 40 years from bridge revenues. To facilitate financing, the Province of Ontario bought the entire Series B bonds in one sale and thus guaranteed a quick sale for the Series A bonds in the United States bond market.
The International Bridge was opened to traffic on October 31, 1962.
Sault Ste. Marie, Michigan
Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario
