The Lake Street–Marshall Avenue Bridge is a reinforced concrete

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...

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 ...

between

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 ...

and

St. Paul, Minnesota Saint Paul (often abbreviated St. Paul) is the capital city of the U.S. state of Minnesota and the county seat of Ramsey County. As of the 2020 census, the city had a population of 311,527, making it Minnesota's second-most populous city a ...

. It is oriented east-west and connects Lake Street in Minneapolis to Marshall Avenue in St. Paul. St. Paul residents often refer to it as the Marshall Avenue Bridge. The bridge was designed by Howard, Needles, Tammen, and Bergendoff.

History

The current Lake Street–Marshall Avenue Bridge replaced the previous bridge, a wrought-iron span built in 1889. The previous bridge was the second-oldest bridge in use over the Mississippi, next to the

Eads Bridge The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, St. Louis, Lacled ...

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

, built in 1874. At the time, the ''

Minneapolis Tribune ''The Minnesota Star Tribune'', formerly the ''Minneapolis Star Tribune'', is an American daily newspaper based in Minneapolis, Minnesota. As of 2023, it is Minnesota's largest newspaper and the seventh-largest in the United States by circula ...

'' opined that the new bridge was a "foolish extravagance," since there were already seven bridges over the river. However, the Lake Street–Marshall Avenue Bridge became a major connection between Minneapolis and St. Paul. Before the construction of the freeway system, it carried

U.S. Route 212 U.S. Route 212 (US 212) is a spur of U.S. Route 12, US 12. It runs for from Yellowstone National Park to Minnesota State Highway 62 (Hennepin–Dakota counties), Minnesota Highway 62 at Edina, Minnesota. It does not intersect US 12 ...

over the Mississippi River. When construction on the new bridge started in 1989, the builders built the first half of the new bridge while keeping the old bridge in service. Unfortunately, an accident ended up delaying construction. The

falsework Falsework consists of temporary structures used in construction to support a permanent structure until its construction is sufficiently advanced to support itself. For arches, this is specifically called centering. Falsework includes temporary ...

for one of the arches collapsed on April 24, 1990, causing the arch itself to collapse, killing construction worker Robert A. Moser. Later, when it came time to demolish the old bridge, crews tried to take it down with explosives, but the first effort didn't bring the bridge down. It took another, more powerful batch of explosives to bring the old bridge down a few weeks later.

References

* *

External links

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

, bridge = Lake Street Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Short Line Bridge The Short Line Bridge is a truss bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. It was originally built in the 1880s and upgraded a few years later by Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific Railroad and was d ...

, upstream signs = , downstream =

Intercity Bridge The Intercity Bridge, more commonly known as the Ford Parkway Bridge (and sometimes referred to as the 46th Street Bridge by residents of Minneapolis), is a reinforced concrete arch bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Minneapolis, M ...

, downstream signs = Open-spandrel deck arch bridges in the United States Bridges in Saint Paul, Minnesota Bridges in Minneapolis Bridges over the Mississippi River Bridges completed in 1889 Bridges completed in 1992 Road bridges in Minnesota Concrete bridges in Minnesota Historic American Engineering Record in Minnesota Mississippi Gorge Shared-use paths in Minneapolis

History

See also

References

External links