Duluth, MN – As far as I can tell from the Wikipedia article, March 29, 2024 was the 94th anniversary of the first use of the current style of the lift bridge.

I intended to show this ship footage on a March storm great lakes wave video that I will be publishing, but it’s so awe-inspiring watching these ships pass that I made a stand-alone video (and another like it) to showcase the awe (and more footage). I monitored ship movement on marinevesseltraffic.com so I knew when to venture out into the blizzard. If you love watching the ships pass, search on YouTube for the channels featuring ships passing through the canal in Duluth (or wait for YouTube to serve them up now that you’ve watched this video).😁 A couple of them captured me on the pier filming (and I them).

I regret the video quality (shakiness and resolution)—it being the product of a confluence of unfortunate circumstances—besides the horizontal flying ice crystals. The video moves me regardless because it’s a great lakes ship and great lakes waves and a historic lift bridge in what is these days a rare Minnesota blizzard.

0:33 first sight

1:20 pier lights/big waves
The pier lights make it easier to see how big the waves in the canal are.

2:00 can’t hold back the grin
because it’s almost here!

3:00 at the canal

6:23 frozen salute and response
The bridge has Westinghouse train horns.

8:38 seagull lit up
A seagull framed by the lift bridge reflects the light against the snowy sky making it look crispy pure white.

UPDATE: The ship did eventually wait out the storm in a bay.

daytime ship video:    • the Edwin H Gott heading out to Lake ...  

old photos and history of the bridge: https://www.startribune.com/duluth-ae...

March 2024