Since the Mackinac Bridge Authority started selling pieces of the original deck grating as it's replaced, it's safe to say that pieces have made their way to many spots far from the Straits of Mackinac. You would be hard-pressed, however, to take one farther away than Brendan Fisher has.
Fisher recently began a 13-month assignment (October 2022-November 2023) as a heavy equipment mechanic for the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP), part of the international scientific investigation on the seventh continent. He brought with him a sign he built from a 38-foot piece of the original deck grating he purchased through auction in November 2020, proclaiming the distance from the South Pole to the Mackinac Bridge: 9,394 miles.
Since placing the sign at the South Pole would mean it would eventually become buried in snow, Fisher instead obtained permission to place the sign on permanent display at the USAP facility.
The 51-year-old South Bend, Ind., native has long felt a connection to civil engineering marvels, including the Mighty Mac. His father, John Fisher, is a civil engineer who "designed half of South Bend," Fisher says, including the East Race Waterway. The Mackinac Bridge is his father's favorite bridge, which prompted him to purchase the piece of grating to make gifts for family, like a lamp he made for his dad.
Categories: Indiana, General, Michigan, General