The Old Sartell Bridge is a bridge 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 ...
in the city of
Sartell in the
U.S. state
In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
Minnesota
Minnesota ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Upper Midwestern region of the United States. It is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Manitoba and Ontario to the north and east and by the U.S. states of Wisconsin to the east, Iowa to the so ...
. Though still standing, it is closed to traffic and was replaced by the
Sartell Bridge constructed about 850 feet downstream. The bridge is around 1000 feet downstream of the
Sartell Dam
The Sartell Dam is a dam across the Mississippi River in Sartell, Minnesota, Sartell, Minnesota in the United States. The dam was used to generate Hydroelectricity, hydroelectric power for the adjoining Sartell Paper Mill before it burned down in ...
. The bridge was built during a six-month period in 1914, but over the years the bridge became congested and less able to carry heavy traffic. As early as 1957, heavy trucks were found to be too much for the span. When the new bridge was built in 1984, the old bridge was used as a pedestrian footbridge, but it became impractical for this use since there was a
factory
A factory, manufacturing plant or production plant is an industrial facility, often a complex consisting of several buildings filled with machinery, where workers manufacture items or operate machines which process each item into another. Th ...
at the east end. The bridge carries utility lines and was reopened for pedestrian traffic on June 9, 2023 with lookouts for fishing. It is accessible to pedestrians from the west and closed on the east end.
The Old Sartell Bridge is a three span pin connected camelback through truss. The camelback design is a specific type of Parker truss, where the polygonal top chord is composed of exactly five sections. Each span of the Old Sartell Bridge is composed of six panels. The bridge is supported by concrete piers and abutments.
See also
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List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River
This is a list of all current and notable former bridges or other crossings of the Upper Mississippi River, Upper Mississippi River which begins at the Mississippi River's source and extends to its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinoi ...
References
Historic Bridges of Michigan and Elsewhere- Provides identification information used to identify the Old Sartell Bridge.
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Bridges completed in 1914
Bridges over the Mississippi River
Buildings and structures in Benton County, Minnesota
Buildings and structures in Stearns County, Minnesota
Former road bridges in Minnesota
Sartell, Minnesota
Transportation in Benton County, Minnesota
Transportation in Stearns County, Minnesota
Parker truss bridges in the United States
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