|
Stone Arch Bridge
Full name: St. Paul,
Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway bridge (1883-present)
Bridge type: stone arch
bridge
Perhaps
the most graceful symbol of the importance of the Falls to the history
of Minneapolis is the Stone Arch Bridge. Completed in 1883 for James
J. Hill's St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Manitoba Railway (later the
Great Northern Railroad Company), the bridge sweeps over the water
and curves up the river, just below the Falls.
Construction of the bridge cost $650,000, an amazing sum for its
day. Hill, a major entrepreneur and “captain of industry,”
and his partners built the |
|
Stone Arch Bridge and east bank; Spirit
Island (now gone) in foreground, 1941 |
bridge to connect
their railway system to the new Union Depot planned for the intersection
of Hennepin and Nicollet avenues. Hill originally planned to build a shorter,
cheaper bridge above St. Anthony Falls but was advised by Charles Smith,
his chief engineer, that such construction could result in the collapse
of the Falls, already rendered unstable by the Eastman Tunnel disaster
of 1869, and thus the loss of its waterpower resources. Smith recommended
that the east bank bridgehead be located below the Falls. This, along
with land ownership complications, required that the bridge be aligned
in the sweeping curve which gives it such visual drama, with the upstream
section running parallel to the river to create a straight entry to the
Union Depot.
Stone Arch Bridge under construction,
1883 |
Most
engineers at the time were dubious that a masonry bridge with such
a curve would have the strength required to withstand the weight
and vibrations of the trains. However, the final design, built of
locally-quarried Platteville limestone, St. Cloud granite, and magnesium
limestone from Stone City, Iowa, has proved to be strong and durable.
The 2,100-foot-long bridge was originally comprised of twenty-three
limestone arches, each spanning between 40 and 100 feet and supported
by granite piers and abutments. At
its western end, at the approach to the Union Depot, the tracks
crossedthe open water of the milling canal “headrace”
(intake) |
|
pool on a truss structure. When the Upper St. Anthony Lock was constructed
in the early 1960s to facilitate upstream navigation, two stone
arches and one pier in the vicinity of the lock channel Text Box:
Truss structure at headrace end of Stone Arch Bridge, 1933were removed
and replaced with a steel truss. The milling canal headrace was
filled in at the same time, shortening the west end of the bridge
and removing its old headrace truss section. In 1975, the bridge
was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark. |
Like other businesses that helped
build the Twin Cities, rail transportation declined throughout the twentieth
century. The last train crossed the Stone Arch Bridge in 1978, and the
tracks were removed in the early 1980s. But this unique structure---the
only arched bridge made of stone along the entire length of the Mississippi
River---is a great physical reminder of all the hustle and bustle that
once went on around the Falls. In 1994, after meticulous refurbishing,
the Stone Arch Bridge was re-opened as a pedestrian and biking bridge.
From the middle of the bridge, a viewer can see the expanse of the Falls
and imagine what the district must have been like in the days when it
was packed with flour and lumber mills and crowded with industrial laborers.
See
more images of the Stone Arch Bridge |
|
