September 23, 2014
Lift Bridge Rehabilitation GEORGE CASTLE Lode Writer Starting in December this year, the Michigan Department of Transportation [MDOT] will be performing major upgrades and preventative maintenance to Houghton and Hancock’s iconic lift bridge, a project that will cost an approximate $5.5 million. The project is designed to “maintain the Portage Lake Lift Bridge’s reliability and ensure the bridge remains in excellent operating condition,” according to MDOT. The operations will include: lift cables replacement, balance chain remediation, electrical and mechanical upgrades, security improvements, spot painting, and new warning and barrier gates. The lift bridge will undergo a year and a half of rehabilitation, from Dec. 2014 to April 2016. For most of the project, one lane will be closed on either side of the bridge and traffic will proceed as normal. However, during the summer of 2015, one side of the bridge will be closed and two-way traffic will proceed on the other side. There will also be two ten-hour full closures of the bridge during January and March 2015 at night, over 200 smaller closures lasting twenty minutes, and 16 three-hour closures from January 2015 through April 2015 at night. These closures will disallow all vehicle and pedestrian traffic across the bridge, which may impact University operations. In order to minimize the impact, MDOT
News: Survey says a Tech education pays off
3
has scheduled most of the repairs to take place during the night and finish before the morning. Some of the known conflicts are: the Women’s basketball, Men’s Basketball, and Men’s Ice Hockey games on Jan. 17, 2015; the Men’s Ice Hockey game and the Jazz Cabaret on Jan. 24, 2015; Preview Day and An Evening with Mandy Gonzales on March
“MDOT has scheduled most of the repairs to take place during the night and finish before the morning. However, some of the larger closures may affect events being held at the University.” 21, 2015; the Don Keranen Jazz Memorial Jazz Show and Keweenaw Area Schools Spring Break on March 28, 2015. The closures will be exceptionally difficult during Preview Day at Tech, since parents and their children will not be able to make it across the bridge to or from hotels. Families have previously gone as far as Marquette to find a place to stay, and with the bridge closed the search for a good night’s rest will
News: Tech recognized for diversity efforts
4
The Houghton-Hancock Lift Bridge will be under construction starting in December.
Photo coutesy of http://www.doe.mtu.edu/houghton/2012/
be on. “The Houghton County Airport is working on a plan to accommodate families,” said Travis Pierce, Director of Housing, though exact details aren’t known. MDOT has been mindful of the impacts that repairs to the bridge may have and has planned with emergency services accordingly. Fire, police, and EMS will be available both above and below the bridge at all times through the duration of the project to deal with any and all emergency situations. To make things even safer, Valley Med Flight has acquired a fixed wing medical
Pulse: Underwhelming performance in underwear
6
Opinion:
aircraft capable of flying patients to Marquette General Hospital in the event that Portage Health or Aspirus Keweenaw can’t provide medical care. The plane can travel up to two thousand miles without refueling and can “go wherever a doctor wants it to go,” said Pierce. All-in-all, the Portage Lake Lift Bridge rehabilitation should have minimal impacts on traffic, only a few specific instances where University programs are interrupted, ensure the safe and reliable operation of the bridge, and have no impact on the safety and wellbeing of Keweenaw residents.
10
Illness stricks residence halls
Sports:
13
2014 Outdoor Nation Campus Challenge