Main Channel Bridge (Winona)

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Main Channel Bridge (Winona)
Picture of the cantilever section
Carries	Two lanes of MN 43 and WI 54
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	Winona, Minnesota
Maintained by	Minnesota Department of Transportation
ID number	5900
Design	Cantilever bridge
Longest span	450 feet
Total length	2290 feet
Width	36 feet
Clearance below	64 feet
Opening date	November 1942
Coordinates	44°03′26″N, 91°38′24″W

Main Channel Bridge (Winona) is a cantilever bridge that spans the Mississippi River between Winona, Minnesota and Fountain City, Wisconsin. Construction on the bridge was started just before the United States entered World War II, and the construction was hastened to finish in November of 1942, despite labor shortages, difficulty obtaining materials, and high water. It was built in 1941-1942 by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (MnDOT).

On May 17, 2008, the United States Postal Service announced that the bridge would be on the Minnesota Sesquicentennial commemorative stamp.^[1]

Following an inspection of the bridge's gusset plates, it was announced by MnDOT that the bridge would close June 3, 2008. Gusset plates were the components suspected in the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi River bridge. The bridge was expected to be closed for several weeks with over 60 mile long detours as an alternative.^[2]

[edit] See also

List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River

[edit] References

^ United States Postal Service. Minnesota’s Sesquicentennial Honored. May 16, 2008.
^ Winona bridge over Mississippi River closed. Star Tribune. June 3, 2008.

Costello, Mary Charlotte (2002). Climbing the Mississippi River Bridge by Bridge, Volume Two: Minnesota. Cambridge, MN: Adventure Publications. ISBN 0-9644518-2-4.

[edit] External links

Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress) Survey number HAER MN-91 also covers the more elegant Winona Main Channel Bridge less than a half mile south of the north channel bridge. The actual navigable channel of the Mississippi passes beneath the main channel bridge.