Broadway Avenue Bridge is a

girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge d ...

that spans the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis is a city in Hennepin County, Minnesota, United States, and its county seat. With a population of 429,954 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the state's List of cities in Minnesota, most populous city. Locat ...

. Designed by Norman C. Davis and Shawn Pierson Bruns of

Van Doren-Hazard-Stallings A van is a type of road vehicle used for transporting goods or people. There is some variation in the scope of the word across the different English-speaking countries. The smallest vans, microvans, are used for transporting either goods or p ...

, it was built in 1987. The bridge has a rather streamlined shape, but its

piers Piers may refer to: * Pier, a raised structure over a body of water * Pier (architecture), an architectural support * Piers (name), a given name and surname (including lists of people with the name) * Piers baronets, two titles, in the baronetages ...

are more ornate. The piers have two flat columns that taper together, with a base that extends out to the full width of the bridge. This bridge is the third bridge to cross the river at this location. The first bridge was a wooden structure completed in 1857, but washed away in a flood in 1859. The second bridge was a four-span

Pratt truss A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

bridge built in 1887. It spanned the northern industrial district that was developing on both sides of the river. The 1887 bridge was very ornate, featuring

finials A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the apex of a dome, spire, tower, roof, or gable or an ...

on each top corner and a band of scrolls, crosses, and lines between them. The horizontal struts and guard railings used X-shapes as a pattern. In 1950, the bridge was raised to allow barges and larger boats to pass underneath. The old bridge was removed in 1985, but a single span of the bridge lives on as the Merriam Street Bridge that connects

Nicollet Island Nicollet Island ( ) is an island in the Mississippi River just north of Saint Anthony Falls in central Minneapolis, Minnesota. According to the United States Census Bureau the island has a land area of and a 2000 census population of 144 person ...

to the St. Anthony section of Minneapolis.

References

External links

* of previous bridge {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Broadway Avenue Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream = Northern Pacific-BNSF Minneapolis Rail Bridge , upstream signs = , downstream = Plymouth Avenue Bridge , downstream signs = Bridges in Minneapolis Bridges over the Mississippi River Bridges completed in 1987 Road bridges in Minnesota 1987 establishments in Minnesota Great River Road Girder bridges in the United States Historic American Engineering Record in Minnesota

See also

References

External links