Bridges of the St. Anthony Falls Area

Bridges of the St. Anthony Falls Area. . , The landscape around the Falls was transformed by many types of construction. Blasting and excavations for bridge supports and rail trackage modified the river banks, rail trestles were built over the canal and tailrace to serve the mills, and a series of platforms suspended sawmills over the river., Beginning with the first suspension bridge between Nicollet Island and the foot of Hennepin Avenue (1854), more than twenty bridges have been constructed across the river in the stretch between present-day Plymouth and Washington avenues., A few of the earliest, such a the Christmas Avenue Bridge (1858-59), now Broadway Avenue, lasted only for a short time until they were swept away by floods or log jams., The succession of bridges built near the Falls displays many historic engineering types. , Open spandrel arch . Closed spandrel deck arch . Howe truss . Pratt truss . Under truss . Through truss . Suspension . Girder or beam, ① Hennepin Avenue East Channel , 1853-69; 1869-78; 1878-1973- present , Wood beam span supported by pilings; replaced by a stone arch bridge; now steel beam., ② First Hennepin Avenue , 1854/55-1876 , T.M. Griffith, engineer , Wood suspension; first permanent bridge across the Mississippi., ③ St. Paul and Pacific Railroad , 1867-1893; 1893-present (with remodeling) , Wood Howe truss; first railroad bridge in Minneapolis. Replaced by beam span., ④ First Upper/Plymouth Avenue , 1873-1886 , Wood Howe truss., ⑤ Lower/10th Avenue , 1874-1943 , Iron under-truss bridge replaced an earlier wood footbridge. Bridge linked 6th Ave. S.E. with 10th Ave. S., ⑥ Second Hennepin Avenue , 1876-1890 , T.M. Griffith, engineer , Stone tower suspension design; replaced 1854 bridge., ⑦ Minneapolis Eastern Railroad Trestle , 1879-1962 , Elevated trestle along main tailrace canal., ⑧ St. Paul and Northern Pacific Railroad , ca. 1881/1923-present , F.W. Cappelen, engineer , Double-track, deck truss; one of the first steel spans in the Northwest. (Relocated upriver from original location in 1923.) Now a pedestrian bridge., ⑨ St. Paul, Minneapolis and Manitoba Railway "Stone Arch Bridge" , 1883-present , C.C. Smith, engineer , St. Cloud granite arch with one steel deck-truss span (added 1963). Refurbished as a pedestrian bridge in 1994. Second-oldest remaining bridge on the Mississippi River., ⑩ Washington Avenue , 1884-1965; 1965-present , Iron truss. Replaced in 1965 with beam span. , 1965-present, ⑪ Minneapolis Western Railroad Trestle , 1885-1936 , Over 1st Street (main) waterpower canal. Replaced wood trestle built in 1878 by the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railroad., ⑫ Second Plymouth Avenue , 1886-1983 , Through-truss iron bridge. Replaced with current concrete box girder bridge in 1983., ⑬ Minneapolis Western Railroad , 1887-1952 , Iron under-truss., ⑭ Third Hennepin Avenue , 1891-1988/89 , Two-span steel arch., ⑮ Third Avenue , 1918-present , Concrete Steel Engineering Co. , Concrete deck-arch in a reverse S-curve. Spans the Upper St. Anthony Falls Dam. Major renovation in 1980., ⑯ Cedar Avenue (Tenth Avenue) , 1929-present , City of Minneapolis, engineer , Concrete rib-deck arch. Widening and new approached in 1976., ⑰ I-35W , 1967-present , MnDOT, engineer , Steel and concrete deck-arch truss., ⑱ Fourth Hennepin Avenue , 1990-present , HNTB, engineer , Steel suspension; fourth bridge at this location.