Yes, you can move a bridge with heavy equipment and a crane, but the best way is through power and influence. The bridge that crosses the Cass River west of Frankenmuth on Beyer Road is known as the Gugel Bridge.
Built in 1904, this 204-foot-long bridge carried the Detroit and Saginaw Turnpike over the Cass River in Bridgeport Township. By around 1919 the pike, which became the well-traveled Dixie Highway, required a more substantial crossing and this bridge was replaced. The bridge was relocated to Beyer road because the county treasurer at the time was W. Christian Gugel and he used his influence to move the bridge near his farm. For years the locals referred to the bridge as the Gugel Bridge. The bridge closed in 1979. William ‘Tiny’ Zehnder had the structure restored as a pedestrian bridge in 2004. The Gugel Bridge is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.
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