Lost bridges
Minnesota has a robust engineering heritage, represented through its transit network carried over the state’s countless bodies of water by bridges. Sometimes, due to deterioration or transportation infrastructure updates, a historic bridge can no longer meet the functions of our current system and must be replaced. Those bridges that have been removed from our transportation system are presented here to aid in educational purposes, with information about the bridge’s historic significance, when it was removed, and any associated and relevant historic documentation on the structure.
Bridge 2110
History and significance
The Eden Bridge was a Warren pony truss constructed in 1918. It carried unpaved County State Aid Highway 8 over the Minnesota River, linking Eden Township in Brown County to Camp Township in Renville County. The Eden Bridge was significant as the state’s longest surviving example of a Warren pony truss that used the widely adopted 1917-1925 Minnesota Highway Department’s standard plan.
Bridge 2110 was removed in 2022.
Location
Eden Township (Brown County)
Additional resources
- Bridge report (PDF)
- Bridge inventory form (PDF)
- Bridge drone flyover (YouTube)
- Minnesota historic property record (PDF)
Bridge 2628
History and significance
Bridge 2628 was a single-span, cast-in-place, concrete through girder structure constructed in 1917. It carried Township Road 187 over Okabena Creek in Alba Township in west-central Jackson County. The State of Minnesota's specifications for concrete girder highway crossings set the maximum span length at 60 feet, and several through girder bridges were built at this outer limit. Of these, Bridge 2628 was the only surviving example with a 60-foot main span length, and it was significant for this reason. Bridge 2628 displays monolithic construction where the concrete deck is carried by floor beams extending between the two girders, which also served as the parapet railings.
Bridge 2628 was removed in 2018.
Location
Alba Township (Jackson County)
Additional resources
Bridge 3130
History and significance
Bridge 3130 was a concrete girder bridge constructed in 1920. It carried Township Road 232 over Coon Creek about one-half-mile south of Blue Earth in rural southwestern Faribault County. The structure was significant as the best surviving, early example of the Minnesota Highway Department's standardized plan for concrete deck-girder bridges.
Bridge 3130 was removed in 2017.
Location
Blue Earth City Township (Faribault County)
Additional resources
Sulphur Lake Bridge (Bridge 4667)
History and significance
The Sulphur Lake Bridge (Bridge 4667) was built in 1927 to carried Trunk Highway 19/71 across Sulphur Lake in rural Honner Township, Redwood County. The 169-foot bridge had a 117-foot riveted Camelback through-truss main span. Bridge 4667 was significant for its association with the Minnesota Highway Department’s bridge building and highway improvement efforts in the 1920s, as well as being a representative example of the Camelback through truss, an unusual type in Minnesota.
Location
- Honner Township (Redwood County)
Additional resources
Bridge 5380
History and significance
The Lac Qui Parle Bridge (Bridge 5380) carried State Highway 40 over a widening in the Minnesota River known as Lac Qui Parle Lake about 3 miles southwest of Milan in northwestern Chippewa County. The lake is the result of a water conservation and flood control project initiated in the mid-1930s by the Works Progress Administration, under the sponsorship of the Minnesota Department of Conservation. The project created a 40-mile-long reservoir on the Minnesota River by building three dams, control works, and a diversion channel. The undertaking also required the construction of new roads and bridges, including the Lac Qui Parle Bridge.
Completed in 1938, the bridge was a single-span, riveted steel, Parker through truss with concrete slab approach spans. The bridge had poured concrete abutments with somewhat stylized classically inspired detailing, such as entablature-like molding, railing piers with recessed panels, and curving corbel-like forms that support the bridge approaches. Cantilevered sidewalks were incorporated into the design due to the bridge’s location near a popular fishing spot on the lake. The causeway at each end of the bridge is protected by large areas of well-crafted, mortared, hand-fit granite riprap. The bridge was significant as a contributing resource to the Lac Qui Parle Flood Control Historic District.
The bridge was removed in 2019.
Location
- Kragero Township (Chippewa County)
Additional resources
Bridge 5757
History and significance
Constructed in 1937 and located in a residential neighborhood in the Fond du Lac area of Duluth, Bridge 5757 carried State Highway 23 over Mission Creek. It is a two-span, multi-plate arch with concrete headwalls, railings, and retaining walls encased in a fieldstone veneer. The masonry veneer displayed Late Gothic Revival detailing; buttressed pilasters frame the multi-plate openings and small pointed arches punctuate the railings. Bridge 5757 was significant as an example of a multi-plate arch with well-crafted masonry and Late Gothic Revival detailing.
The bridge was removed in 2019.
Location
- City of Duluth (St. Louis County)
Additional resources
Bridge 6580
History and significance
Bridge 6580 was built in 1958 and carried Rice Street (County Road 49) over Interstate 694 in Ramsey County. The bridge was significant as an example of the earliest period of use and evolution for prestressed concrete girder in the state. Prestressed concrete represents a significant advance in construction materials and was first used by the Minnesota Highway Department in 1957. This bridge was constructed the following year.
The bridge was removed in 2019.
Location
- City of Vadnais Heights (Ramsey County)
Additional resources
Bridge 7979
Bridge 7979 was a masonry-arch bridge constructed c.1904. It carried County Road 15 over a branch of Willow Creek approximately 3 miles south of the city of Preston in Carimona Township, Fillmore County. The bridge was significant as an example of masonry arch highway bridge, and particularly noteworthy for its two-span design.
The bridge was removed in 2021.
Location
Carimona Township (Fillmore County)
Additional resources
Bridge 9065
History and significance
Built in 1958, Bridge 9065 carried southbound U.S. Highway 61 over Trout Creek in Winona County. The bridge was significant as an example of the earliest period of use and evolution for prestressed, post-tensioned concrete slab in the state. Prestressed concrete represents a significant advance in construction materials and was first used by the Minnesota Highway Department in 1957.
Bridge 9065 was removed in 2017.
Location
Richmond Township (Winona County)
Additional resources
Bridge 9103
History and significance
Constructed in 1960, Bridge 9103 carried U.S. Highway 63 over U.S. Highway 61/63 and a service drive in Goodhue County. The continuous concrete slab structure was a horizontally curved bridge with an exceptional structure length of 200 feet. The bridge was located in close proximity to downtown Red Wing and served as an approach to the Eisenhower Bridge, which spans the Mississippi River at the Wisconsin state line. These site considerations were a factor during the design of the bridge, demonstrating the importance of showing harmony with the bridge's surroundings. As a result, the bridge displayed artistic elements, such as an ornamental rail and curved form that illustrate the importance of design aesthetics.
Bridge 9103 was exceptionally long when compared to other continuous concrete slabs, illustrating a solution to a particular site challenge. The bridge was significant for exhibiting the combination of engineering features that demonstrates the complex design issues the engineers faced to meet the site challenges and road requirements for a bridge at this location.
Bridge 9103 was removed in 2018.
Location
City of Red Wing (Goodhue County)
Additional resources
Bridge 9177
History and significance
Built in 1958, Bridge 9177 carried 11th Drive over Interstate 90 in Mower County. The bridge was significant as an example of the earliest period of use and evolution for prestressed concrete girders in the state. Prestressed concrete represents a significant advance in construction materials and was first used by the Minnesota Highway Department in 1957.
Bridge 9177 was removed in 2017.
Location
City of Austin (Mower County)
Additional resources
Bridge 9407
History and significance
Bridge 9407 was built in 1958 and carried County Road 16 over U.S. Highway 63 in Olmsted County. The bridge was significant as an example of the earliest period of use and evolution for prestressed concrete girders in the state.
Bridge 9407 was removed in 2016.
Location
City of Rochester (Olmsted County)
Additional resources
Rainy River International Bridge (Bridge 9412)
History and significance
The Rainy River International Bridge carried State Highway 72 over the Rainy River at the Canadian border (Ontario Highway 11) in Baudette, Lake of the Woods County. The Pennsylvania through truss was constructed in 1959. It was significant as an international crossing. As the first bridge at this location, it was part of transportation initiatives by local proponents to connect Minnesota and Canada by providing an additional point of entry that relieved congestion at established border crossings, connected important market or industrial routes to Ontario, and expanded recreation and tourism. The Pennsylvania through truss is also significant as an uncommon bridge type in Minnesota.
Bridge 9412 was removed in 2019.
Location
City of Baudette (Lake of the Woods County)
Additional resources
Midtown Greenway Bridges
Bridge 90437, Bridge 90494, and Bridge L8901
History and significance
In 1916 the Chicago, Milwaukee and Saint Paul Railroad constructed a series of bridges to separate railroad traffic from city streets. The bridges are identical in plan, dimension, and ornamental detail. Each structure is a three-span, cast-in-place, reinforced-concrete T-beam that rests on round-arch piers. The railings, parapet walls, and wingwalls feature modest Classic Revival details, including ornamental recessed panels and pilasters. Beginning in 2000 the rail lines were removed and the grade separated corridor was converted to a recreational trail, known as the Midtown Greenway, and maintained by the City of Minneapolis.
- Bridges 90437 and 90494 were removed in 2017.
- Bridge L8901 was removed in 2019.
Location
City of Minneapolis (Hennepin County)
Additional resources
- Bridge report
- Midtown Corridor Bridge Management Plan (PDF)
- National Register of Historic Places Nomination (PDF)
Bridge 90592
History and significance
Bridge 90592 was a c.1904 single-span, cast-in-place concrete arch bridge that carries 28th Avenue over Minnehaha Creek in the Minnehaha Parkway area of south Minneapolis. The structural arch and its headwalls and wingwalls were comprised of cast-in-place reinforced concrete. Bridge 90592 was significant as an example of the early use of reinforced concrete in Minnesota, and was also a contributing structure to the Grand Rounds Historic District.
Bridge 90592 was removed in 2019.
Location
City of Minneapolis (Hennepin County)
Additional resources
Bridge L2194
History and significance
Bridge L2194 was a concrete box culvert located in Magnolia Township, Rock County, Minnesota. Designed and constructed by Perely N. Gillham in 1928, the culvert carried 200th Avenue over an unnamed stream. Bridge L2194 was significant as an example of a box culvert designed and built by Perley N. Gillham, an important Minnesota bridge builder.
Bridge L2194 was removed in 2019.
Location
Magnolia Township (Rock County)
Additional resources
Bridge L2340
History and significance
Bridge L2340 was a reinforced-concrete arch bridge located on Township Road 108 approximately 2.5 miles northwest of the village of Beaver Creek in Rock County. Designed by Perley N. Gillham in 1906, the bridge carried traffic over Springwater Creek on a north-south axis. Bridge L2340 was significant as an early example of a reinforced-concrete vehicular bridge constructed by, or attributed to, Perley N. Gillham, an important Minnesota bridge builder.
Bridge L2340 was removed in 2019.
Location
Beaver Creek Township (Rock County)
Additional resources
Bridge L4013
History and significance
Bridge L4013 was a single-span, semicircular stone-arch bridge constructed in 1915 to carry a single lane of vehicular traffic on Rooster Valley Road over a dry run in Houston County. The structural arch and stone headwalls/wingwalls were comprised of coursed-ashlar, buff-colored limestone. The bridge was significant as the only surviving, authenticated example of an early-twentieth-century, state-designed, stone-arch bridge.
Bridge L4013 was removed in 2016.
Location
Black Hammer Township (Houston County)
Additional resources
- Bridge report (PDF)
- Bridge inventory form (PDF)
- National register of historic places nomination (PDF)
Bridge L4778
History & significance
Bridge L4778 was constructed in 1914 and carried Township Road 222 (also known as Heron Road) over the South Branch of the Root River in rural Carrolton Township, Fillmore County. The 103-foot, single-span, pin-connected, Pratt through truss stood near the nineteenth-century milling townsite of Clear Grit and the historic Allis Barn. The bridge was significant as a representative of the work of Alexander Y. Bayne, a notable Minnesota bridge builder, who designed and built the bridge in the same year that he formed his Minneapolis Bridge Company.
Bridge L4778 was removed in 2019.
Location
Carrolton Township (Fillmore County)