MDOT Tests Portage Lake Bridge

MDOT is still trying to figure out what’s wrong with the Portage Lake Lift Bridge.

It’s been stuck in the open position twice this week.

Engineers tested the bridge for about 4 hours last night.

They didn’t find any major problems.

But they did some fine–tuning and continued today with more tests.

MDOT says the tests may result in the bridge sticking in the ‘up’ position again, and that could be for an extended period.

To prevent that from happening, MDOT is not raising the bridge for boating traffic on Portage Lake.

Vessels less than 30 feet high can still pass under the bridge.

If the tests disrupt traffic again, drivers will be rerouted through Houghton and Hancock.