NEARLY TO THE DAY that the Norfolk Southern bascule railroad bridge celebrated its 100-year anniversary (it opened on Jan. 26, 1922), Iron Workers Local 25 members employed by the Ruhlin Co. began a month-long project to replace two key components of the historic bridge. Spanning the Rouge River, and shown with a section of I-75 as a backdrop, it is described as one of the rarest bascule bridges of its type in the nation.

RIVER ROUGE – Iron ore freighters and other boat traffic navigating the narrow Rouge River have to pass through, or under, no less than seven bridges from the Detroit River to reach the usual destination where a fork of the river’s flow dead-ends at the Ford Rouge Plant.