SwtM - Blue Water Bridge Mystery Cache

This cache has been archived.

The Mitten Crew: [maroon]It's time to close down the fourth year of the [b]Smitten with the Mitten[/b] series.

Thanks to [b]The Mitten Crew[/b] (Climb Guy, bigcatcog, fitfinders, MI Barrel Makers, and bretina) who paid for the p@thtags/stamps/supplies and placed the caches in order to make this series possible.

We hope you enjoyed the series.[/maroon]

More
Hidden : 5/10/2013
Difficulty:
1.5 out of 5
Terrain:
3 out of 5

Size: Size: regular (regular)

Join now to view geocache location details. It's free!

Watch

How Geocaching Works
Looking for a different adventure?

Please note Use of geocaching.com services is subject to the terms and conditions in our disclaimer.

Geocache Description:



The cache is not at the posted coordinates.
Using the information on this cache page solve for the final location:

N42 AB.CDE
W085 FG.HIJ

A=Number of Spans + 3
B=Last Digit of the year the first Span Opened
C=First digit in the number of feet of the newer bridge main span
D=Third digit in the number of feet of the older bridge main span
E=First digit of total length of older span

F=First digit of the highway numbercompleted in 1982
G=Second digit of the highway number completed in 1982
H=Third digit of the total length of the newest span
I=The number of spans + 5
J=3rd digit of the year the eastern terminus of I-94 was completed.

You can check your answers for this puzzle on GeoChecker.com.

Or use this quick field check
Sum of the North = 35
Sum of the West = 30

The Blue Water Bridge is a twin-span international bridge across the St. Clair River that links Port Huron, Michigan, USA and Sarnia, Ontario, Canada.The original span is a cantilever truss bridge with a total length of 6,178 feet and a main span of 871 feet. The second, newer span is a continuous tied-arch bridge with a total length of 6,109 feet and a main span of 922 feet.

Together, the two bridges are the second-busiest crossing between the United States and Canada, after the Ambassador Bridge at Detroit-Windsor. They also provide one of the four shortest routes of land travel between the eastern seaboard of the United States, and the central United States. The Blue Water Bridges are jointly owned and maintained by Canada and the United States.

The first bridge was opened to traffic on October 10, 1938. The lead engineer was Polish-born Ralph Modjeski. This bridge originally had two lanes for vehicles as well as sidewalks; the latter were removed in the 1980s to make room for a third lane for automobiles. The third lane for each direction started from the apex of the bridge in order to accommodate long lineups entering each sides' respective border crossings.

In 1964, the eastern terminus of Interstate 94 was completed at the foot of the Blue Water Bridge on the American side. Traffic volumes steadily increased, spurred by the completion of Highway 402 in 1982 which provided a continuous freeway link to Highway 401 on the Canadian side. In 1984, Interstate 69 was completed to Port Huron which meant that three freeways converged on the three-lane bridge.

In 1992, it was determined that traffic on the bridge had exceeded its rated capacity. So bridge authorities decided to add a second span in order to accommodate the high traffic. During the debate over the form of the second span, five possible designs were proposed from 1994–1995. Over half of public opinion had mostly favored a duplicate of the first bridge, while the cable-stayed bridge came in second with around 21%. The Blue Water Bridge Authority had rejected both designs, due to the duplicate creating a false sense of history, while the cable-stayed option was feared to overshadow the existing bridge. Another cost-effective but unpopular design was the parallel truss. The continuous-tied arch design, which was a distant third place in polls, was chosen for two reasons. One was that it blends in with the original span yet stands out on its own, and the other is lower maintenance costs because fewer spans are involved.

Visit 14 geocaches in the SwtM series. At each geocache collect a letter and number combination. Insert them into the phrase FiTS LIKe A GlOVE. Use the coordinates from the phrase to find the final geocache and become a Mitten Master
2013 Smitten with the Mitten caches
Whites Covered Bridge St. Joseph River Bridge Sixth Street Bridge Frankenmuth Covered Bridge
Mackinac Bridge Langley Covered Bridge Lake Lift Bridge International Bridge
Fallasburg Covered Bridge Croswell Swinging Bridge Ambassador Bridge  
Ada Covered Bridge Ackley Covered Bridge Blue Water Bridge Mitten Master

Additional Hints (Decrypt)

Jura lbh frr gur ovt oynpx cynfgvp guvat ba gur tebhaq, tb nobhg 15 srrg jrfg qbjauvyy sebz gung. Ybbx nebhaq ba gur tebhaq.

Decryption Key

A|B|C|D|E|F|G|H|I|J|K|L|M
-------------------------
N|O|P|Q|R|S|T|U|V|W|X|Y|Z

(letter above equals below, and vice versa)


Advertising with Us