Emergency Plan Looks At Short & Long Term Bridge Outages

There is only one structure spanning the Portage Canal, connecting Copper Island to the mainland.

So, what would residents do if something happened to the bridge?

The Portage Lift Bridge Planning Committee has been meeting every month to devise a plan in case the bridge suddenly was no longer available.

Scenarios include small mechanical failures to catastrophic situations that would lead to a longer bridge outage.

The committee began looking at the county’s current emergency plan in May and started to meet with local agencies last month–including law enforcement, the Michigan Department of Transportation, Houghton and Hancock Public Works and the road commission to talk about each agency’s responsibility.

The July meeting focused on the health care industry–EMS first responders, hospitals, long term care facilities and mental health.

Houghton County Emergency Measures Director Chris Van Arsdale explained to the county board of commissioners Tuesday that there a lot of variables affecting the plan, such as when the outage would take place—middle of a work day or overnight on a weekend.

Van Arsdale said that is why the plan was under review and to identify gaps in the plan.

The response plan is divided up into time segments—less than one hour, one hour to five days, five days to one month, one month to six months and then extended beyond that.

During a short-term outage, traffic would be diverted away from the bridge on both sides so emergency vehicles can still get by.

A floating bridge can arrive for longer outages, but would take four to five days to get here.

There are things people can do to be prepared for such an emergency.

Van Arsdale said residents should have a plan in place on what they will do if they cannot cross the bridge, including how to get food, fuel and lodging.

People should also have a plan on how they will communicate with their family as cell towers are likely to be overloaded during that time.

He said people should listen to the radio and monitor online media for updates during an emergency.