The Ten Curves Road – Manistique River Bridge is a historic bridge carrying Ten Curves Road over the Manistique River

Manistique River

The Manistique River is a 67-mile-long river in the U.S. state of Michigan that winds southward through the central Upper Peninsula from its headwaters near Lake Superior to its mouth in Lake Michigan. It drains approximately of the Upper Peninsula, including most of Schoolcraft County and small...

 in Germfask Township, Michigan

Germfask Township, Michigan

Germfask Township is a civil township of Schoolcraft County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 491 at the 2000 census.The unincorporated community of Germfask is located in the northern part of the township where the Manistique River crosses M-77 on the eastern edge of the Seney...

. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 in 1999.

History

The Michigan State Highway Department developed standard plans for long-span concrete through girder bridges with arched girders on cantilevered brackets in 1921-22. The first bridge of this type constructed in the state was a 90 foot span in Tecumseh

Tecumseh, Michigan

Tecumseh is a small city in Lenawee County of the U.S. state of Michigan. It is situated where M-50 crosses the River Raisin, a few miles east of M-52. Tecumseh is about SW of Detroit, south of Ann Arbor and north of Toledo, OH....

, built in 1922. Another early version of this type of bridge was the 90 foot span, designated Bridge Number 750 02, built in 1923 for the Germfask crossing of the Manistique River.

The Germfask bridge was part of the construction of M-98

M-98 (Michigan highway)

M-98 is the designation of a former state trunkline highway in the Upper Peninsula of the US state of Michigan. It ran between M-77 at Germfask and M-28 near McMillan. The highway connected both small towns situated around Manistique Lake when it was designated with the rest of the original state...

 between Germfask and nearby Luce County

Luce County, Michigan

-Government:The county government operates the jail, maintains rural roads, operates themajor local courts, keeps files of deeds and mortgages, maintains vital records, administers...

line. The MSHD awarded Harry Erickson, a contractor from Manistique, the contract to build the bridge this bridge. Erickson completed the structure in 1923 for a cost of $26,190.81. The previous trunkline is now downgraded to a county road, but the bridge over the Manistique River remains essentially unaltered.

Description

The Ten Curves Road – Manistique River Bridge in Germfask consists of two 90 foot, arched concrete through girders sitting on concrete brackets cantilevered from concrete abutments. The roadway is 22.3 feet wide, with an overall structure width of 25.3 feet. Twelve concrete floor beams, integrally cast into the deck, run between the main spans. The walls of the bridge are punctured with five small arched cutouts. Guardrails have been installed at each end of the bridge. Although the concrete walls of the bridge are severely spalled, the bridge still has a relatively high degree of structural integrity.

External links

• Ten Curves Road – Manistique River Bridge from BridgeBrowser - includes multiple images.