Construction

• Construction on the Sturgeon Bay steel bridge began in 1930. Keller and Harrington out of Chicago was the firm that designed the bridge. The namesakes of the firm had previously worked for the Scherzer Company which specialized in bridges that move. The bridge spans the canal with overhead trusses, deemed the best design for an opening bridge subjected to stresses like wind. When it officially opened to traffic on July 4, 1931, the Sturgeon Bay bridge was the largest span in the state.
  
  

Threats

• The Sturgeon Bay bridge quickly became a heavily traveled span. The state Department of Transportation suggested destroying the bridge and replacing it with a wider span in the 1970s. The National Trust for Historic Preservation intervened and eventually persuaded the DOT to build another bridge nearby to alleviate some of the traffic, something that would take decades to occur. In 1995, temporary repairs were made on the bridge in response to deficiencies found the year prior. The DOT, however, intended to replace the bridge and held public hearings on the matter beginning in 1997.
  
  

Preservation

• A 10-year state evaluation of historic bridges begun in 1986 initially did not place the Sturgeon Bay bridge on the list of those being considered for preservation. Since several of the bridges left on the list were going to be replaced, a 1996 review of all of the state's bridges resulted in the Sturgeon Bay bridge's inclusion on the list submitted to the National Register of Historic Places. The Steel Bridge Songfest was initiated to raise awareness of the bridge's fate and generated enough donations to help get the span listed on the Register in January of 2008.
  
  

Recent Improvements

• In 2002, the Wisconsin DOT announced it would repair the Sturgeon Bay bridge and in 2005, a bill passed approving the construction of a "sister" bridge nearby. The repairs and improvements made on the bridge included structural fixes, a sidewalk, lighting and restoration of the bridge opener's office. The bridge reopened on July 1, 2011, almost 80 years to the day after it first accepted traffic.