Subject: Harsens Island / Blue Water Bridge boundary markers<br/>
Date: Aug 26, 2003 @ 20:57<br/>
Author: hilversum96 (&quot;hilversum96&quot; &lt;hilversum96@...&gt;)<br/>
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<div id="ygrps-yiv-613972967">At the Tall Ships Sarnia festival last weekend, I spotted a St. Clair <br/>
River chart on one of the Great Lakes cruise ships. I asked one of <br/>
the crew members if he knew anything about Seaway Island. He <br/>
confirmed that the CAUS border does run through the island, and that <br/>
low water has exposed more land and made the island &quot;grow&quot; across the <br/>
boundary line. <br/>
<br/>
And he confirmed that the seaway project of 1958 involved cutting and <br/>
dredging a shipping channel (the St. Clair Cutoff, between Seaway and <br/>
Bassett Islands, named on the Algonac MI quad,) to shorten and <br/>
straighten ships&#39; path through the flats. <br/>
<br/>
<a rel="nofollow" target="_blank" href="http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=42.5401&lon=-">http://www.topozone.com/map.asp?lat=42.5401&lon=-</a><br/>
82.6126&s=100&layer=DRG25&size=m&u=0<br/>
<br/>
So, at this point in the St. Clair River, the shipping channel does <br/>
not follow the international boundary. <br/>
<br/>
I remembered to ask if Seaway Island was natural. He said it was. But <br/>
it can&#39;t be, if the channel project separated it from Bassett Island, <br/>
thereby giving the new island its name. <br/>
<br/>
It&#39;s obvious, on the 1:50,000 version of the Algonac quad (now why <br/>
didn&#39;t I think to reduce the scale?) that the island is growing due <br/>
to low water levels, and the St. Clair Cutoff is a newly-dredged <br/>
shipping channel. <br/>
<br/>
On the way back to the US, traffic was backed up on the Blue Water <br/>
Bridge across its midpoint. For the first time, I noticed two <br/>
boundary markers. A newer one is at mid-span, on the actual border, <br/>
and there&#39;s an older one a few hundred feet into the USA. The older <br/>
one is corroded, and I couldn&#39;t read its text. I did snap a quick <br/>
picture of the newer one as I inched along. <br/>
<br/>
The westbound (into the US) span is the original. In 1997, the second <br/>
span was opened, and both were made one-way. The newer bridge carries <br/>
eastbound traffic into CA. From the westbound bridge, I couldn&#39;t see <br/>
if there is a mid-span marker on the eastbound side. That will be <br/>
something to look for next time. <br/>
<br/>
I&#39;m guessing that the two markers on the westbound side were placed <br/>
there when pedestrian and bicycle traffic was still allowed on the <br/>
bridge. Otherwise, no one will ever be able to read them unless <br/>
there&#39;s a backup coming into the US. <br/>
<br/>
And, while I was up there, I took advantage of standing still at that <br/>
height above average terrain to do some FM DXing. On a distant <br/>
classic rock station I heard &quot;Back In the USSR.&quot; There&#39;s a border-<br/>
related song! I wasn&#39;t gone that long, and had a great time in CA, <br/>
but I remember thinking, gee, it&#39;s good to be back home, almost ...</div>