MacArthur Bridge (Detroit)

MacArthur Bridge
Carries 5 lanes of East Grand Blvd.
Crosses Detroit River
Locale Detroit, Michigan and Belle Isle, Michigan
Official name Douglas MacArthur Bridge
Other name(s) Belle Isle Bridge
Characteristics
Design Arch bridge
Total length 2,193 feet (668 m)
Width 85 feet (26 m)
Clearance below 30 feet (9 m)
History
Opened November 1, 1923

The MacArthur Bridge is a bridge that spans the Detroit River between Detroit, Michigan and Belle Isle. The bridge, which features nineteen total arches across 2,193 feet (668 m), provides main access to Belle Isle. Completed in 1923 for $2,635,000 USD, it replaced an iron bridge with wooden decking that accidentally caught fire and was destroyed in 1915. The bridge, popularly known as the Belle Isle Bridge, was originally named the George Washington Bridge and later renamed the Douglas MacArthur Bridge after General Douglas MacArthur in 1942. It was restored in 1986 at a cost of $11.5 million.[1]

In 1913, William Edmund Scripps (of the Scripps publishing family), flew a Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company flying boat underneath the original Belle Isle Bridge.[2]

References

  1. http://info.detnews.com/redesign/history/story/historytemplate.cfm?id=77&CFID=11849544&CFTOKEN=67648774

[1][2]

Media related to MacArthur Bridge (Detroit) at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 42°20′33.0″N 82°59′54.5″W / 42.342500°N 82.998472°W / 42.342500; -82.998472


  1. "The day it stopped being the Belle Isle Bridge". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
  2. "Douglas MacArthur Bridge — Historic Detroit". www.historicdetroit.org. Retrieved 2016-12-02.
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the 12/2/2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.