Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Sunday 3/17/2013

The O'Mackinaw left port this St. Patrick's Day morning after taking a swipe at the Duluth-Superior Harbor ice pack.  The O'Mackinaw headed under the Duluth Lift Bridge on its way to the Apostles for more ice breaking operations.
Watch Ken Newham's video ride on the Mackinaw

Video from Detroit Free Press

Duluth Harbor Boat Traffic for Saturday 3/16/2013

Cutter Mackinaw Arrival at 14:00

 

The Big Mack is in Town

After spending the morning breaking ice in front of the Duluth Shipping Canal, the Cutter Mackinaw cruised under the Duluth Lift Bridge this afternoon.  The Mighty Mack is in town to help break up harbor ice prior to the first laker getting underway on Tuesday.

Take a look around the Mackinaw Control Bridge

Cutter Alder Breaking Ice 3/13/2013

The Cutter Alder was once again breaking ice in the Duluth Harbor.

Alder Breaking Ice again today

The CGC Alder will be out breaking ice today under clear blue skies. For the first time this season it will pass under the Duluth Aerial Bridge to take a swipe at the Lake Superior ice shelf.

Alder Breaks the Ice

For the first time this season, the CGC Alder began opening the harbor ice with a routine ice breaking venture.

The cutter will be working in the harbor until the ice is cleared and regular shipping begins in a few weeks.

Ice Breaking to start Monday!

The Coast Guard will begin icebreaking operations in the Twin Ports area on Monday. While normal shipping is a few weeks away, the warming sun is beginning to take it's toll on ice conditions.
View Cutter Gallery HERE.

CGC Alder in 2012

Retired Cutter Sundew (2003)

Spring is here - Coast Guard warns Lake Superior ice starting to thin, shift

Coast Guard warns Lake Superior ice starting to thin, shift
Warming conditions, shifting winds and a sun higher in the sky are starting the annual spring thaw, and causing ice on Lake Superior, the Duluth-Superior harbor and rivers entering the lake to be unsafe, the Coast Guard said Thursday.

A morning for the Birds

As spring approached along with the next snowstorm, local birds are getting active as seen in this picture caught on one of the webcams this morning.

February 23, 1905: First ever crossing of the gondola car

February 23, 1905: First ever crossing of the gondola car
By Tony Dierckins zenithcity.com

 Duluth’s Aerial Transfer Bridge, predecessor to the Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge. (Image: Duluth Public Library.) On this day in Duluth in 1905, the Aerial Transfer Bridge made its first crossing with, as the Duluth News Tribune put it, a “load of human freight.” City Engineer Thomas McGilvray invited two hundred people to witness the ferry car’s first crossing. He included local dignitaries such as Mayor Cullum, Common Council President Roland D. Haven, Colonel Hubert Eva, Chief of Police Chauncy H. Troyer; Chief DM&IR Engineer Herman L. Dresser as well as members of his own staff and the team from the Modern Steel Structural Company, who built the bridge. At 4:30 in the afternoon of February 23, 1905, these men entered the car at the south tower and prepared to cross. The bridge was not yet fully complete—some of the false wooden work still stood against the south tower. McGilvray himself controlled the car, which began rolling without so much as a hiccup. One of the workmen posted atop the bridge as a safety measure decided to have a little fun with the crowd, striking at the false staging work with a wooden plank and shouting to cut the power. Afraid that “heavy objects were about to crash to the deck,” many sought protection under the car’s awnings. After a good laugh—and reassurance that a joke had been played, nothing more—the ferry car moved ahead. Riders felt “only a slight vibration” while the car moved northward. As it reached the north end of the canal with “a gentle motion, an almost imperceptible contact against the air cushion in the approach, it stopped and locked automatically.” The entire trip lasted one minute and fifteen seconds, but it had been over fifteen years in the making. TBridge_2.24.1905_DNT. Discover the entire history of the Duluth Aerial Bridge here.