That humble trek earned him a spot in history as the first person to cross the Portage Lake Lift Bridge.

“I didn’t have to wait long, because (Matt Kobe, the Hancock officer directing traffic) just told me to go,” Peterson told the Gazette in 1999. “I just happened to get there at the right time. I didn’t even know it was going to be open.”

An estimated 15,000 cars crossed the 1,310-foot bridge in the first 13 hours, according to a Gazette article on the bridge’s opening. In the 60 years since, about 400 million vehicles have followed Peterson’s lead.

The $11 million project was finalized after more than two years of construction and nearly 20 years after the drive for a new bridge started. 

(MTU Archives) The Portage Lake Lift Bridge took two years to construct, and opened for traffic on December 20, 1959. Next to it is the old bridge, still in use when this photo was taken on Dec. 9. Wrecking of the old bridge started the day after the lift bridge was opened for traffic.

Project engineer John Michels was one of three State Highway Department engineers who came to Houghton to oversee the project. All three were Michigan Technological University graduates.

“I had good training at Michigan Tech for the different types of engineering,” he said. “I used every type of engineering I was trained for to complete the bridge crossing.”

It replaced a swing bridge built in 1895, which was rebuilt 11 years later after a collision with the steamer Northern Wave. The old bridge’s inadequacies had become more obvious with time. In warm weather, local fire departments would be called out to hose down the approaches, which would expand with heat. In cold, ice would clog gears and the turning mechanisms, the Gazette reported. 

Carl Winkler, highway engineer for Houghton County, had begun making a case to the War Department and state highway officials for a new bridge as far as 1940.

Thirteen years later, the efforts started gaining traction, with the Army Corps of Engineers visiting the district to meet with local and state officials about the need for the bridge.

Groundbreaking began in 1957. Identified as the toughest part of the foundation work in a 1960 Gazette article, the sinking of concrete caissons for the tower piers was accomplished by excavating material through large precast holes, sinking them to bedrock. as each section sank, new ones were added, Michels said in a write up of the construction history. During excavation, crews found a sunken 100-foot scow loaded with sandstone. 

Pulleys on the tower columns are 15 feet wide and weigh 65 tons each. Because the rail grade on the bottom of the bridge is set to the west, counterweights at each tower to balance the lift span are heavier on the east side. 

The center span weighs 4.5 million pounds, and is believed to be the heaviest lift span in the world at the time. It was built on pontoons then floated into place while pulled by tugs. 

Cables running from one end of the bridge to the other power motors and controls for the bridge. Two 150-horsepower electric motors raise and lower the bridge. 

As a safety precaution, it stops five feet above road level, before being lowered the rest of the way manually by the bridge operator. 

The first train to use the bridge was the Milwaukee Road’s Copper Country Limited on Feb. 16, 1960.

Two years and two days after bridge construction began, the bridge opened to traffic.

The dedication ceremony took place in June 1960, bringing a slew of dignitaries, led by Army Secretary Wilber Brucker, also a former governor of Michigan. 

Four engineers from the railroad were on hand during the dedication ceremony to operate controls at the pilot house in case of boats or trains.

At the dedication, Brucker said the new bridge would benefit the country’s economy, and also the national defense.