MacArthur Bridge | |
|---|---|
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| Coordinates | 42°20′33″N 82°59′55″W / 42.3425°N 82.9985°W |
| Carries | 5 lanes of East Grand Boulevard |
| Crosses | Detroit River |
| Locale | Detroit, 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 |
| Location | |
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The MacArthur Bridge spans a channel of the Detroit River in Detroit, Michigan. The bridge, which features 19 total arches across 2,193 feet (668 m), provides main access between the city's mainland and Belle Isle. Completed in 1923 for $2.635 million (equivalent to $36.7 million in 2023[1]), 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 renamed the Douglas MacArthur Bridge after General Douglas MacArthur in 1942.[2][3] It was restored in 1986 at a cost of $11.5 million (equivalent to $27.1 million in 2023[1]).[3]
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.[4]
Two sets of streetcar tracks were built into the east side of the bridge but a streetcar route was never implemented.[5] The tracks were eventually paved over in the 1950s.
- ^ a b Johnston, Louis & Williamson, Samuel H. (2023). "What Was the U.S. GDP Then?". MeasuringWorth. Retrieved November 30, 2023. United States Gross Domestic Product deflator figures follow the MeasuringWorth series.
- ^ Austin, Dan (February 18, 2015). "The Day It Stopped Being the Belle Isle Bridge". Detroit Free Press. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
- ^ a b "Douglas MacArthur Bridge". Historic Detroit. Retrieved December 2, 2016.
- ^ Zacharias, Patricia & Jeskey, Ray (April 27, 1998). "The Day the Bridge to Belle Isle Burned Down". Michigan History. The Detroit News. Archived from the original on July 12, 2012.
- ^ "Belle Isle". www.detroittransithistory.info. Retrieved July 17, 2020.