This film produced by Jam Handy for the American Bridge Division of United States Steel looks at the different types of movable bridges and their benefits and drawbacks. It looks at swing bridges, bascule bridges, and lift bridges. It concludes with detailed footage of the construction of the Portage Lake Lift Bridge between Houghton and Hancock in Michigan. It was photographed by Paul Hinzmann and was released in 1970.

0:23 barrier closing as a movable bridge is raised, 01:00 Title “The Movable Bridge,” 1:10 animation of a ship driving down a river, 1:55 a draw bridge being lowered on a model of a castle, 2:17 a sketch of Leonardo DaVinci’s movable bridge, 2:41 small models of different movable bridges including a swing bridge, Bascule bridge, and vertical lift bridge, 3:35 the first movable bridge in London opening, 3:37 the first American swing bridge in New York, 4:17 the tower bridge in London, 4:46 the Marine Parkway Bridge in Brooklyn, 5:09 cars driving over a movable bridge, 5:26 bascule bridge going up, 5:53 four men manually operating a swing bridge, 6:38 a swing bridge closing after a boat drives through, 7:10 world’s longest swing bridge at Fort Maddison, Iowa, 7:25 Yorktown, Virginia double swing bridge, 7:58 bascule bridges in Chicago, 8:18 bascule bridge opening for a boat, 9:25 bascule and swing bridge opening side by side, 10:05 animations of different weight designs on bascule bridges, 10:46 Apt Bascule Bridge in Detroit, 11:19 gears in a bascule bridge, 11:50 different vertical lift bridges, 12:25 longest lift bridge in the world between New Jersey and Staten Island, 13:00 a pedestrian lift bridge across the Harlem river in New York, 13:22 Mackinac Bridge in Michigan, 14:25 a double deck swing bridge between Hancock and Houghton, 15:31 cars driving over the Portage Lake Lift Bridge (officially the Houghton–Hancock Bridge), 15:40 animation of the double deck lift bridge, 15:58 the bridge being built, 16:22 animation of the assembly of the bridge interjected with actual construction footage, 17:39 the trusses being lifted to be connected to each pier, 18:23 the crane being moved further onto the bridge to begin construction of the next section, 19:17 the first two tower legs being put in place, 19:53 engineers placing spans on the other side of the river, 21:07 final piece of the tower being lifted into place, 21:30 the counterweights being put in place, 21:51 cable wheel drums being put into place, 22:33 the lift span being pieced together, 23:14 an engineer installing the driving machinery, 23:38 construction workers beginning the road paving process, 23:52 the assembled lift span being floated down the river and put into place, 24:57 the motors are started and the lift span rises for the first time, 25:42 trains and cars moving across the bridge simultaneously, 26:05 center span being raised to allow only for automobile passage, 26:28 center span being raised all the way to the top for the passage of large ships, 27:09 different shots of highways, 27:23 different bridge designs,

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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com