Travelers on the Mackinac Bridge have experienced increased traffic due to a reduction in available lanes. Repairs in the form of repavement efforts have been underway since late March.
Weather permitting, the Mackinac Bridge Authority anticipates the bridge to be back open for the weekend traffic.
“Currently the forecast shows a chance of thunderstorms this afternoon [Thursday], which could inhibit paving, but crews intend to pave today as much as possible," said James Lake, a public information officer with the Mackinac Bridge Authority. "Our expectation, if the weather holds, is for paving to be completed Friday morning, and the bridge reopened by Friday afternoon."
The project began on March 25 and was initially scheduled to be completed on May 23. It was delayed until June 7. Rain then delayed the project again until the end of this week.
The timely paving of the bridge relies on the proper bonding of asphalt to the pavement.
Lake said rainfall causes issues with building materials, delaying the completion of the project.
“Asphalt is mixed right before it is needed. We had significant rain that dampened the gravel or aggregate piles that were going into the asphalt. We can have some concerns with bonding to the pavement below it,” he said.
In addition to the weather, Lake said unforeseen repairs and early, unsuccessful efforts to field a full crew to work on the project contributed to the delay.
“We did have some additional work that popped up," he said. "Once we removed the top layer of asphalt and got to the concrete, we discovered there were additional areas that needed to be patched before we could complete the repaving.”
The full completion of the repavement project will is still scheduled for next year.
