Photos courtesy of the Keweenaw County Sheriff’s office The south side stone headwall of the retaining wall of the Silver River Bridge, in Keweenaw County, collapsed Saturday night, four days before M-26 between Eagle Harbor and Copper was scheduled for closure so the bridge could be replaced.

A portion of the Silver River Bridge, located at the western junction of M-26 and Brockway Mountain Drive, collapsed on Saturday night. The section of the road between Eagle Harbor and Copper Harbor was scheduled for closure on Tuesday, April 25 in order for MDOT to replace the bridge. MDOT said the bridge was scheduled for replacement, because it had reached the end of its useful service life.

Traffic had been restricted to one lane of the bridge since 2021, due to extensive deterioration of the south side’s stone headwall of the retaining wall, which collapsed on Saturday night, according to Keweenaw County Sheriff Curt Pennala.

“It’s kind of ironic,” said Pennala, “because MDOT’s scheduled closure was Tuesday.”

The Eagle Harbor Township website states: “The spring thaw waters were just too much for our old friend.”

Pennala said that as scheduled, contractor Davis Construction, was on site on Tuesday and had started on the replacement project.

An MDOT press release says that the roadway section of the new bridge will be wider, including 12-foot lanes and 8-foot shoulders, providing more space and increased safety for bicyclists and pedestrians. The $2.9 million project is estimated to take about 10 weeks to complete.

Until then, said Pennala, M-26, from its junction with U.S. 41, in Phoenix, is open as far as Eagle Harbor. At Eagle Harbor, traffic will be detoured along the Eagle Harbor Road (Eagle Harbor Cut-Off) to U.S. 41.

The Silver River Bridge was one of three stone culverts/bridges in Keweenaw County, according the Keweenaw County Blueprint for Tomorrow, 2017, with all three being listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The second bridge, also located on M-26, is located at Cedar Creek, also in Eagle Harbor Township. The third is on US 41 at Fanny Hooe Creek near Fort Wilkins State Park in Grant Township. All built by the Keweenaw County Road Commission as part of the Highway Bridges of Michigan in the 1920’s and 1930’s.