10th Avenue Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 44°58′42″N93°14′38″W / 44.9784°N 93.2438°W |
Carries | Four lanes of automobile traffic |
Crosses | Mississippi River |
Locale | Minneapolis, Minnesota |
Maintained by | Minneapolis |
ID number | 2796 [1] |
Characteristics | |
Design | Concrete rib deck-arch bridge |
Total length | 2,175 feet (663 m) |
Width | 68 feet (21 m) |
Longest span | 266 feet (81 m) |
Clearance below | 101 feet (31 m) |
History | |
Opened | 1929 |
Location | |
The 10th Avenue Bridge crosses the Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota and also in proximity to the University of Minnesota. [2] [3] The bridge was historically referred to as the Cedar Avenue Bridge in the days prior to the construction of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge when it connected to Cedar Ave. [4] The bridge connects 10th Avenue Southeast, on the east side of the Mississippi River, to 19th Avenue South on the west side. The Seven Corners area of the Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis neighborhood is at the southern end of the bridge. The downstream end of the lower Saint Anthony Falls lock and dam extends under the bridge. The historic Southeast Steam Plant is also located nearby.
The bridge is considered the crowning achievement of Minneapolis city engineer Kristoffer Olsen Oustad, who was one of four prominent Norwegian-American men who designed major structures in the region. [5] [6]
A bridge known as the "10th Avenue Bridge" was built upstream from the current bridge in 1874. [7] That bridge extended from 10th Avenue South in downtown Minneapolis to 6th Avenue Southeast. It also was known as the "Tenth Avenue wagon bridge". [8] The piers still are visible upstream from the current I-35W Mississippi River bridge. That bridge was demolished in 1943 to provide scrap for the World War II war effort. [7]
Construction on the current bridge began in 1926, and it was completed in 1929. [9] It was built to alleviate the traffic flows on the bridges serving downtown. [4] The total length is 2,174.9 feet (662.9 m), with two central spans each 265.5 feet (80.9 m) across. It has an open spandrel arch design, and it is constructed of reinforced concrete. Higher and longer than any preceding bridge in the region, it was originally 2,921 feet (890 m) in overall length, 698 feet (213 m) longer than the nearby Third Avenue Bridge. It stands 110 feet (34 m) above the water's surface. The budgeted cost of the bridge in 1922 was US$943,209.71. [10] For many years it was the river crossing for Minnesota State Highway 36.
A major restoration was undertaken in 1972–1976, and the approach spans were altered (they were not considered architecturally significant, even when the bridge was new). [4] The south approach span was relocated to go straight to Washington Avenue.
The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. [11]
Roads in the vicinity were disrupted by the construction of Interstate 35W and a corresponding bridge (completed 1967; collapsed in 2007) one to two blocks upstream. During the days immediately following the I-35W bridge collapse, the 10th Avenue Bridge was closed to traffic, then later reopened; it was one of the most used locations from which to view the wreckage and the recovery efforts. [12]
The bridge was reported to be deteriorating in 2015. [13] It was closed in 2020 to replace the bridge deck and other deteriorating concrete components. [14] It re-opened to traffic and pedestrians in November 2021.
Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony, located at the northeastern edge of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, was the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. Throughout the mid-to-late 1800s, various dams were built atop the east and west faces of the falls to support the milling industry that spurred the growth of the city of Minneapolis. In 1880, the central face of the falls was reinforced with a sloping timber apron to stop the upstream erosion of the falls. In the 1950s, the apron was rebuilt with concrete, which makes up the most visible portion of the falls today. A series of locks were constructed in the 1950s and 1960s to extend navigation to points upstream.
The Stone Arch Bridge is a former railroad bridge crossing the Mississippi River at Saint Anthony Falls in downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is the only arched bridge made of stone on the entire Mississippi River. It is the second oldest bridge on the river next to Eads Bridge. The bridge was built to connect the railway system to the new Union Depot, which at that time was planned to be built between Hennepin Avenue and Nicollet Avenue. The bridge was completed in 1883, costing $650,000 at the time. 117 Portland Avenue is the general address of the historic complex.
Minneapolis is officially defined by its city council as divided into 83 neighborhoods. The neighborhoods are historically grouped into 11 communities. Informally, there are city areas with colloquial labels. Residents may also group themselves by their city street suffixes: North, Northeast, South, and Southeast.
The Washington Avenue Bridge carries County Road 122 and the METRO Green Line light rail across the Mississippi River in Minneapolis and connects the East Bank and West Bank portions of the University of Minnesota campus. The bridge has two decks, with the lower deck designated for motor vehicle traffic and light rail trains and the upper deck used for pedestrians and bicycles. It is a utilitarian structure with simple architecture, but it has cultural significance because thousands of students, faculty, staff, and visitors walk across it every day.
The Franklin Avenue Bridge, officially the F.W. Cappelen Memorial Bridge, carries Franklin Avenue over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was designed by Frederick William Cappelen, assisted by Kristoffer Olsen Oustad, both of whom were among four important Norwegian-American engineers working in the region at the time. The reinforced-concrete open-spandrel arched structure was completed in 1923. The bridge's overall length is 1054.7 feet, with a central span of 400 feet. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 along with several other area bridges as part of a multiple-property submission. At the time of its completion, the bridge's central span was the longest concrete arch in the world.
The Stillwater Bridge is a vertical-lift bridge crossing the St. Croix River between Stillwater, Minnesota, and Houlton, Wisconsin. It formerly connected Minnesota State Highway 36 and Wisconsin Highway 64. Around 18,000 vehicles crossed the bridge daily. The new St. Croix Crossing bridge crossing the St. Croix river valley to the south of Stillwater replaced its purpose, having opened to highway traffic on August 2, 2017, leaving the Stillwater Lift Bridge to be preserved and to be converted to bicycle/pedestrian use.
The Wakota Bridge is a ten-lane bridge carrying Interstate 494 over the Mississippi River between South St. Paul and Newport, Minnesota, United States. It was completed in 2010, replacing a four-lane span built in 1959. The name was given to the previous span in the early 1960s, and is derived from the two counties it connects, Washington and Dakota. Lunda Construction Company won the bid to build a new five-lane west-bound span, remove the existing bridge, and build a new five-lane east-bound span, which was completed in 2010. It is the widest bridge in Minnesota in number of lanes, along with the I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge in Minneapolis.
Interstate 35W (I-35W) is an Interstate Highway in the US state of Minnesota, passing through downtown Minneapolis. It is one of two through routes for I-35 through the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and Saint Paul, the other being I-35E through downtown Saint Paul.
The I-90 Mississippi River Bridge, or the Dresbach Bridge, consists of a pair of parallel bridges that traverse the Mississippi River, connecting the La Crosse, Wisconsin area to Dresbach in rural Winona County, Minnesota. The current bridge was fully opened to traffic in October 2016, replacing a previous 1967 plate girder bridge. It is part of the Interstate 90 route. There is another automobile crossing a few miles south of this bridge; the Mississippi River Bridge, a combination of two bridges, and the La Crosse West Channel Bridge, connecting La Crescent, Minnesota and La Crosse, Wisconsin.
The Cedar Avenue Bridge carries Minnesota State Highway 77 across the Minnesota River between the Minneapolis-St. Paul suburbs of Bloomington and Eagan, Minnesota. The two parallel crossings for northbound and southbound lanes are respectively 5,159 feet and 5,185 feet in length. It was built in 1979, superseding an older swing bridge by the same name that was composed of low-lying truss segments. The modern bridge has three lanes in each direction, in addition to a shoulder which is often used by buses to get past traffic slowdowns.
The Intercity Bridge, more commonly known as the Ford Parkway Bridge, is a reinforced concrete arch bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Minneapolis, Minnesota and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It connects 46th Street in Minneapolis with Ford Parkway in Saint Paul. The bridge is historically significant as one of the largest reinforced concrete bridges ever built in Minnesota. It was built in 1925-1927 by James O. Heyworth, Inc. and was designed by Martin Sigvart Grytbak. The Intercity Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. It is notable as one of the monumental concrete rib-arch bridges spanning the high river bluffs along the Mississippi River, along with the Franklin Avenue Bridge, the Third Avenue Bridge, the 10th Avenue Bridge, and the Robert Street Bridge.
The Lake Street–Marshall Avenue Bridge is a reinforced concrete arch bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Minneapolis, Minnesota and St. Paul, Minnesota. 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.
The Dartmouth Bridge is a steel girder bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis between the Cedar-Riverside area and the University of Minnesota campus area. It carries I-94/US 12/US 52. It was built in 1964 and was designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff, Quade and Douglas. It is named for its proximity to Dartmouth Avenue SE, just north of the bridge.
The Hastings High Bridge was a continuous steel through truss bridge that spanned the Mississippi River in Hastings, Minnesota, United States. It was designed by Sverdrup and Parcel and was built in 1951 by Graus Construction Company of Hasting for $356,000. It was demolished in late 2013 when the current Hastings Bridge opened. It had been scheduled to be torn down and replaced by MNDot in 2019, but after the I-35W bridge collapse in Minneapolis, it was re-prioritized and construction started in 2010.
The Plymouth Avenue Bridge is a segmental bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis. It was built in 1983 and was designed by Van Doren-Hazard-Stallings. The construction of this bridge was unique, for it was the first segmental concrete girder bridge built in Minnesota. This method of design uses a "form traveler" that shapes the concrete as it is built out from the piers. This avoided the use of falsework and avoided impeding river traffic. The concrete is also engineered to be salt-resistant by the use of post-tensioning. Tubes run through the concrete structure carrying strands of cable. With tension on the cables, the structure is designed to be under compression. This prevents cracks and hinders the intrusion of salt water. Since then, other bridges in Minnesota have used this construction method, including the I-35W Saint Anthony Falls Bridge in Minneapolis, the Wabasha Street Bridge in downtown St. Paul, and the Wakota Bridge in South St. Paul.
The I-35W Mississippi River bridge was an eight-lane, steel truss arch bridge that carried Interstate 35W across the Mississippi River one-half mile downstream from the Saint Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The bridge opened in 1967, and was Minnesota's third busiest, carrying 140,000 vehicles daily. After only 39 years in service, it experienced a catastrophic failure during the evening rush hour on August 1, 2007, killing 13 people and injuring 145. The National Transportation Safety Board (NTSB) cited a design flaw as the likely cause of the collapse, noting that an excessively thin gusset plate ripped along a line of rivets. Additional weight on the bridge at the time of failure was also cited by the NTSB as a contributing factor.
Bohemian Flats Park is a park in Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States on the west bank of the Mississippi River near the Washington Avenue Bridge and next to the University of Minnesota campus. The area, once known as Little Bohemia, was the site of a shanty town as Minneapolis was incorporated in 1867. European immigrants seeking employment in the city or at the mills at the nearby St. Anthony Falls settled there. The former housing structures and historic buildings no longer remain. The park is managed by the Minneapolis Park and Recreation Board as part of the Mississippi Gorge Regional Park, and it lies within the Mississippi National River Recreation Area.
The Eastman tunnel, also called the Hennepin Island tunnel, was a 2,000-foot-long (600 m) underground passage in Saint Anthony, Minnesota, dug beneath the Mississippi River riverbed between 1868 and 1869 to create a tailrace so water-powered business could be located upstream of Saint Anthony Falls on Nicollet Island. The tunnel ran downstream from Nicollet Island, beneath Hennepin Island, and exited below Saint Anthony Falls.
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