Seventh Street Improvement Arches (Bridge 90386)
See features of the bridge
History and significance
Originally known as the Seventh Street Improvement Arches, Bridge 90386 is a two-barrel masonry-stone arch bridge constructed in 1884 to carry vehicular traffic on MN-5 (East Seventh Street) over five tracks of the Saint Paul and Duluth Railway. Designed by William Truesdell, the bridge is a rare, skewed, two-barrel, masonry highway bridge constructed in the helicoidal method. Two types of Minnesota limestone are laid in a coursed ashlar pattern with a rock-faced finish. Prior to 1989 the railway tracks beneath the arched openings were removed and the area currently serves as a pedestrian and bicycle trail.
The Seventh Street Improvement Arches is significant as a rare skewed, helicoidal stone arch, which was technically demanding to construct. It is thought to be one of the few remaining in the United States and is the only known example in Minnesota.
Location
City of Saint Paul (Ramsey County)
Latitude, Longitude:
44.956425, -93.077309
Bridge features
Design and construction of a rare, skewed
helicoidal, two-barrel, stone arch bridge.
Overall ornamental design aesthetic. The bridge features two types of limestone, a locally quarried gray stone and a finer-grained, buff-colored stone; all stonework is rock-faced and laid in a coursed-ashlar pattern. For embellishment, intradosal surfaces are bush hammered and ring stones have tooled margins on top and bottom. The center pier also has a rounded, ornamental cutwater.