April 12 (UPI) -- Transportation officials in Michigan are auctioning off 64-year-old pieces of the iconic Mackinac Bridge that were replaced following inspections.
The Michigan Department of Transportation and the Mackinac Bridge Authority said the pieces of steel grating from the bridge, which connects Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas, are now being auctioned off on website GovDeals.
Officials said the bridge, the third largest suspension bridge in the United States, is inspected each year, and sections of grating are replaced. The removed sections were previously sold for scrap, but MDOT and the Mackinac Bridge Authority announced they would be making some sections available for collectors to purchase.
"Many people just want a small chunk of the bridge," Kim Nowack, executive secretary of the Mackinac Bridge Authority, told WWTV/WWUP-TV.
Bidding on the current batch of bridge pieces is open until April 19.
