Mendota Bridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 Three spans of the Mendota Bridge as viewed from the west side, in Fort Snelling State Park. |
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| Carries | Four lanes of Minnesota State Highway 55 |
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| Crosses | Minnesota River |
| Locale | Minneapolis-St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Maintained by | Minnesota Department of Transportation |
| ID number | 4190 |
| Design | 13 arch spans |
| Total length | 4119 feet (1253.8 m) |
| Width | 71 feet (21.6 m) |
| Clearance below | 100 feet (30.5 m) |
| AADT | 39000 vehicles/day |
| Opening date | 1926 |
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The Mendota Bridge carries Minnesota State Highway 55 over the Minnesota River between Fort Snelling and Mendota. It is the final bridge over the Minnesota River before the Minnesota flows into the Mississippi River at the "Meeting of the waters" or "Mendota" in the Dakota language. Traffic on the North end of the bridge may turn onto the Fort Road Bridge to cross the Mississippi into St. Paul, Minnesota.
[edit] History
The structure was designed by C.A.P. Turner and Walter H. Wheeler. Turner also designed the Aerial Lift Bridge in Duluth, Minnesota and the Liberty Memorial Bridge between Bismarck and Mandan, North Dakota.
It was the longest concrete arch bridge in the world when it was constructed in 1926. Often called the "mile-long bridge", it is actually 4,119 feet (1,255 meters) in length. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Between 1940 and 1965, the bridge also carried the multiplexed designation of Highway 100.
From 1992-1994, the bridge was rebuilt. The old bridge was demolished down to the arches. A new wider deck was installed.
[edit] Trivia
- Midway across the bridge the downtown skylines of both Minneapolis and St. Paul can viewed simultaneously.
[edit] References
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