Brings back memories...made many crossings with high winds...was only stopped once in the four years I lived in Newberry. Camped out in the car until the Bridge Authority came around honking their horns to let us now the bridge was open.
You see.. some people just don't appreciate the magnificence of The Mighty Mac. It is such a beautiful bridge and is so dependable.. that crossing in this weather is just an experience. The same people that cry about this video don't ride roller-coasters or have any sense of adventure. I'm happy that I was able to give people the full experience of Northern Michigan in the winter. You have to be a sturdy individual to live up here.
Shoot, I get a serious case of nerves when I cross the bridge on a bright, sunny, calm day - I'd have to be sedated and on the floorboards to get across in this type of weather.......aarghhhh
the first time I ever went across it was my first year driving semi over the road back in the mid 80’s during a blizzard i deadheaded from Detroit to Maniste for a load of water softener salt coming back to Wisconsin and by the time I got there and got loaded it was getting dark already and I 94 to Chicago had been closed due too the storm and the bridge was still open plus I was going to Appleton WI which made it shorter to go over the top but after what I had been through driving empty from Detroit to get there I had gotten the tractor sideways on a curve I wasn’t going too try going over the bridge for the first time at night in a blizzard I have super 8 movie footage I took along the way anyway it was still terrible weather the next morning but the bridge was still open so off I went and the closer I got to it the more I kept hoping it would close so I could just park and sit it out it closed alright right after I got across it and turned onto hwy 2 I had only been driving for the company for a couple months and I didn’t want too be the only one not to make it where they wanted me to go and instead I was the only one that did my brother drove for the same company and he sat for over 14 hours on hwy 30 in Indiana until they got the other side of the road open and let everyone cross over and go the wrong way so they could get too the 76 truck stop then they closed the road again and believe it or not the farmers almanac predicted the worst storm on record they only missed it by one day I believe it hit a day earlier than predicted I think it was the next year when someone lost control of their small car in windy conditions on the bridge and somehow ended up going over the top of the guardrail and into the water below I heard they did some testing under similar conditions with the same type of car but they never figured out how it could have happened
I go up to the Soo every year around the same time. It usually never fails the weather is ruthless. But that was the craziest conditions on the bridge that I've ever seen. I did hear of a car going over the bridge back in the 80's I heard it was a Yugo. Which is basically a cereal box with wheels.
Now that's a trick! It's fun to cross in good weather and experience the exposure at mid-span, where the cables drop to bridge deck level - you're hanging 200 feet above the water and 2½ miles from shore on either end. But in wind this strong it would be a bit unnerving.
I have driven across that bridge during some crazy weather blizzards high winds I actually could see the bridge swaying in high winds not making that up it is an awesome engineering marvel
I've been the last group escorted across the bridge during a big storm that had over 100 cars involved in a wreck at the North gate going south in the late 90's
Trying to watch this. Kept tilting my phone to keep the main subject of the video in the frame! Thank goodness I have a sleeper on my 18-wheeler. I wasn’t up there at that time. But still.....! I know this is 2 years ago. KEEP BOTH HANDS ON THE WHEEL, KNUCKLEHEAD!!!😲😡
Yes! Once a week or better for me. My kid played hockey for 11 years so there was lots of crossing it during the winter the driving through treacherous Yoop weather.
I've done the Mac walk a couple of times and that was fun. I drove across the bridge over the Columbia river in weather just like on this video. Not fun. Thanks for posting this video. Were your palms wet when you got to other side?
Nah I actually thought about turning around and going back over. It was definitely an experience tho. I've never seen anything like it. I crossed the Columbia River last year in Washington. I can see how that would be sketchy.
It was. Right at the mouth of the Columbia in Astoria with a storm coming in off the Pacific. Tall narrow bridge, a wire see through. Dusk was coming on. Love the UP. If you ever get the chance take a sleeping bag and sleep on the lake Superior shoreline at Twelve mile beach
My family had property up in the U.P. that I spent some time at when I was a teenager. It is beautiful country up there. Too cold up there for me tho lol
The person filming this (and I am bothered it’s probably the driver) scared the crap out of me by jerking the camera right several times. It’s my nightmare scenario of veering a hard right off the bridge and into the straits.
@@billkhan3789 I was doing 20 mph wasn't as bad as you'd think. The sight conditions were better on the bridge compared to once you were off the bridge. Ideally a go pro would've been great but I wasn't planning on hell storm lol
I had to work the next day. They were allowing passenger vehicles to cross. No semi trucks, or pickup trucks with toppers. I didn't really have the money to stay at a hotel another night. I'm sure that if it was to dangerous they would've shut the bridge down. If it was any worse they would have shut it down.
