Gugel Bridge

Built in 1904, this 204-foot-long bridge carried the Detroit and Saginaw Turnpike over the Cass River in Bridgeport Township. By around 1919, the pike, which had become the well-traveled Dixie Highway, required a more substantial crossing, so the bridge was replaced and relocated to this site at Beyer Road, which lacked a crossing. The Joliet Bridge and Iron Company, which built at least 25 bridges in Michigan, including several in Saginaw County, erected this unusual structure with both a 60-foot pony Pratt truss and a 144-foot Pratt through truss. Frankenmuth supervisor and Saginaw County commissioner Christian Gugel moved it to this site. The bridge closed in 1979, and William “Tiny” Zehnder had it restored as a pedestrian bridge in 2004. It is listed in the National Historic Register of Historic Places.

Michigan · United States