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'My heart is with the Mighty Mac' - Old-time Hardhats have their say during 50th anniversary celebration

Date Posted: August 17 2007

ST IGNACE - They came to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Mackinac Bridge, which in 1957 finally united Michigan's two peninsulas after four years of construction and decades of frustration over having to deal with ferry boats that were the only link between the north and the south.

They reunited with each other during several events July 27-28 - a group of tradesmen in their 70s and 80s who shared the common experience of bringing to life Michigan's greatest engineering and construction achievement - the Mighty Mac.

During their visit, never far in the background was the rock-solid, five-mile long bridge that continues to be a monument to their efforts. But this year was special: the old-time construction workers were able to re-visit with each other, and witness the unveiling of a monument in Bridge View Park in their honor - a 6-foot 3-inch bronze statue representing a Mackinac Bridge iron worker from the 1950s.

The unveiling of the statue was preceded by a 90-minute event under a tent in the park in which carpenters, operating engineers and primarily iron workers related their experiences working on the bridge. Union electricians, laborers and painters were also on hand during construction.

Several hundred were in the audience. The event culminated two days of reunions, parades and fireworks marking the bridge's golden anniversary.

During his introduction to the oral histories, Patrick "Shorty" Gleason of Iron Workers Local 25, the president of the Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, said "this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity that you will get to meet some of the finest tradesmen in North America. I am surrounded by the best bridge-men you will ever meet."

One of them, iron worker Dick Nesgoda, said he was awestruck by the immense bridge when he first went to work on the span. "I said 'my God, what am I doing here,' " he told the audience. "It turned out to be the best experience in my life. I went on to work on six or eight other bridges, but my heart is with the Mighty Mac. I'm proud to be here with all my brothers."

It was a span than many detractors said couldn't be built, whether it was because of the deep water, the supposedly inadequate bedrock under the Straits, or the high winds and brutal winters that the area experiences. Obtaining financing for the $100 million bridge was perhaps the greatest challenge - New York financiers wondered why a bridge should be built that would only benefit hunters and a few vacationers.

The political, financial and engineering obstacles were all overcome, and groundbreaking on the $100 million bridge began in St. Ignace on May 7, 1954.

Merritt-Chapman and Scott managed the foundation work, and construction of the steel superstructure was supervised by the American Bridge Division of United States Steel Corp. Working on the construction were an estimated 3,500 bridgemen, 350 engineers and 7,500 at off-site quarries, mills and other tooling shops.

About 50 of those workers answered the call to come to the Straits region for the celebrations last month. Like many construction workers, they mostly kept their comments short and essentially let their work do the talking for them.

"Something like this was needed to bring the clan together again," said iron worker Mike Gleason, Shorty Gleason's dad. Added fellow iron worker Jim Sweeney, who said he drove the first rivet into the bridge: "It's wonderful you people showed up to honor these guys and the Mighty Mac."

The vast majority of the workers on the Mighty Mac were iron workers - and in a geographical quirk, locals 8 (formerly 783) 25, 340 all shared jurisdiction and employment at the bridge. On hand to mark the event were business mangers Jim Jorgensen (Local 8); Jim Hamric (Local 25) and Bruce Hawley (Local 340). Also present from the Iron Workers International Union were Greg Hicks and Walter Wise.

"It was a proud moment when I became a journeymen, then a business manager," said Jorgensen. "But it doesn't hold a candle to today, getting to ride over the bridge (in the parade) with my heroes. Thanks for showing us the courage and continuing the legacy of the iron workers."

Said Duane McGregor, an operating engineer, in a typically short comment: "The bridge is still up after 50 years - they said it couldn't be done, but there it is,"

Five workers died while building the bridge. Iron worker Ray Daley told the audience that "the area looks beautiful out there, but it can be a bit treacherous." He described iron workers "jumping for their lives" to go from the safety of a pier to a sinking caisson bobbing in the water. "All these men who worked on the bridge looked like school kids back then," he said. "Now we're old timers."

Iron worker Jerry Kennelly said his experience on the bridge started when he got laid off from a job in Southeast Michigan. "I had a new car in 1956, and headed north for Mackinac," he said. "The next thing I knew I was driving rivets 450 feet in the air. I wondered what the hell I was doing."

Cal Prout related one of the more humorous experiences on the bridge. He said he was a "cool kid" in 1955, and got a job on the bridge earning good money, $148 a week. At one point his foreman told him his next job was going to be banding cable at the top of one of the towers - which meant hauling a set of 50-pound tongs 552 feet to the top.

"Well, I got tired, and I dropped the tongs 552 feet into the water," Prout said. "I wasn't a cool bad-ass any more, I thought my ass was going to be fired. So I went to the foreman and said, "Jerry, I can't find those tongs anywhere."

He got away with that fib - and the story has a conclusion. "Years later, at a restaurant in Negaunee, here's a set of tongs in a case," Prout said. "I asked the owner 'where'd you get them?' He said a diver found it off the North Tower."

J.C. Stillwell is an iron worker who worked on the bridge. He owns Mama Mia Restaurant in Mackinaw City - and runs a iron worker museum. "I worked with some of the best and nicest men in the country," he said. "then I worked in the museum and met the best people from all over the world. They're gorgeous people."

After those oral accounts, with the Mackinac Bridge in the distance, those retirees stood at attention while the statue, created by artist Janice Trimpe, was unveiled to a round of applause.

Joining the festivities were Michigan Department of Transporation Director Kirk Steudle and Mackinac Bridge Authority Chairman Bill Gnodtk. The iron workers presented the authority with a framed photo of iron workers topping out the bridge.

"These men built what couldn't be built and overcame whatever Mother Nature threw at them." said Iron Workers International General Treasurer Walt Wise. "We're proud of the men who turned dreams into reality and built the Mackinac Bridge."

MICHIGAN BUILDING and Construction Trades Council President Patrick "Shorty" Gleason, at the podium, hosted a storytelling session by iron workers and other tradesmen (seated behind him) who built the Mackinac Bridge 50 years ago.
A SIX-FOOT THREE-INCH bronze figure representing an iron worker from the 1950s walks a beam in Bridge View Park in St. Ignace, with the Mackinac Bridge in the background.