by Scott Stephenson for the Sarnia Observer
(2003) Twice, the St. Clair River has been spanned by steel, linking two nations bound together through friendship and trade. On July 12, 1997 girl guides Heather Stuart, 11, of Sarnia and Desiree Lee, 9, of Michigan, exchanged Canadian and American flags across the international boundary line to officially open the Second Span Blue Water Bridge.
The exchange was symbolic of a flag raising ceremony for the original bridge span nearly 60 years earlier. The opening of Second Span Blue Water Bridge was celebrated with much fanfare on both sides of the border and the public was invited to walk the bridge during two days of festivities on the July 12-13 weekend.
The official opening of the second span attracted tens of thousands of people from both countries to walk the $100 million structure. “It’s a wonderful thing they’re doing,” commented Watford’s Doug Weight, as he prepared to walk the length of the bridge a second time. Walkers were led up both sides of the bridge by girl guides and boy scouts, just as they were in 1938. The first 20,000 walkers received commemorative bridge buttons.
Bridge officials had expected approximately 60,000 would walk the bridge but ended up having to stop the walk early because of safety concerns as the crowd grew in size to an estimated 150,000 to 200,000 people. Although officials later apologized for cancelling the walk before everyone was able to complete the journey, they said an estimated 75,000 people were able to cross over.
The first paying Canadian to drive the new bridge was Margo Koyle of London, who was chosen in a contest sponsored by Sarnia’s radio stations. Koyle crossed the span on July 22 riding in a sidecar of an Electra Glide motorcycle piloted by Ray McQuinn of Motorsport Harley Davidson in Sarnia, when the span was officially opened to traffic.
Just as was done at the opening of the original Blue Water Bridge in 1938, a time capsule was buried in the Second Span upon its completion. Once again, the capsule contains a copy of The Observer from opening day, complete with newspaper stories and pictures of the event, along with 34 other items, among them a 1997 American Eagle silver dollar. The contents were contributed by five Kiwanis clubs from both sides of the border. Aside from the usual newspaper articles and coins, the capsule is stuffed with photos of the area, programs from the opening ceremony and documentation on various Kiwanian projects.
The opening of the Second Span Blue Water Bridge was the result of five years of work. Plans for the new bridge were unveiled in February 1993, with actual construction beginning two years later, in April 1995.
By June 1995, pile driving had begun and by February 1996 the aerial steel work was underway. The final piece of steel was lowered into place in November 1996, linking the centre span together 160 feet above the St. Clair River. At the top of the centre span, both bridges are only 125 feet apart.