My ex-boyfriend, room/bandmate, and long-time Rust n Brique contributor (he gives me rides everywhere and takes pictures sometimes) Jeff recently went on a tour of the lower deck of the Veterans Memorial (AKA Detroit-Superior) bridge. Another tour will be taking place on Saturday, September 2, 2006. Here's Jeff's pictures, and some information he picked up from the postcard he got on the tour.

"When the Detroit -Superior Bridge opened on Thanksgiving Day 1917, it was celebrated as the world's largest concrete double-deck bridge. The 3,112-foot long structure originally carried four lanes of automobile traffic on the upper deck. Four streetcars were carried on the lower deck, which opened on Christmas Day 1917. The total cost of the construction was $5,398,000.00.

"On the West Side, streetcars entered and exited through openings on West 25th Street and Detroit Avenue. Two Detroit Avenue tracks emerged at W. 29th Street. To the East, just off Public Square, a tunnel system containing four tracks ran down the center of Superior Avenue, with openings located at West 9th Street.

"Streetcars were discontinued in 1954.

"On Veterans Day 1989, the bridge was renamed as the Veterans Memorial Bridge.

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