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The gates that lower have their set of bells that stop once the gate is in the down position. Those bells have a ding-ding-ding sound. The bridge bell that sounds during the lift has a ringing sound, kind of like an old telephone.

I think the bell on the bridge just has a mechanical malfunction. Last year it didn’t seem to ring for a couple of months, then it started ringing again for the full lift. This year it has gone from ringing the full lift, to partially ringing, to not ringing at all during some lifts. Considering that the bridge lifts 4500-5000 times a year, the bell might be wearing out and hard to keep working.

Strictly a guess, but many movable highway bridges use railroad crossing gate equipment to operate their gates, lights and bells. And more and more states are allowing railroad crossings to sound their bells only when the gates are going down. The bells then turn off and don't sound for the remaining time the gates are in the down position. So some crossing equipment is probably now wired that way by default. And perhaps the Duluth bridge recently upgraded equipment.

I have noticed lately that the bell on the Duluth Lift Bridge no longer sounds the entire time it raises/lowers. It sounds like it only sounds at the beginning of each lift and then shortly when its back on the way down. Does anyone know why the change? Thank you.