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Omaha Road Bridge Number 15

1916 establishments in MinnesotaBridges completed in 1916Bridges in Saint Paul, MinnesotaBridges over the Mississippi RiverCanadian Pacific Railway bridges in the United States
Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul and Pacific RailroadChicago and North Western RailwayRailroad bridges in MinnesotaSwing bridges in the United StatesUnion Pacific Railroad bridges
Omaha Road Bridge Number 15 2016 09 17 1
Omaha Road Bridge Number 15 2016 09 17 1

Omaha Road Bridge Number 15 is a swing bridge that spans the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was built in 1915 by the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway (Omaha Road), though it, and the line from St. Paul to Mendota, was jointly owned with the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railway (Milwaukee Road). The causeway curves around Pickerel Lake in Lilydale, Minnesota, before crossing into St. Paul. The bridge was designed by I.F. Stern of Chicago. It is unusually shaped, because the swing span is asymmetrical. According to local legend, the original bridge design had equal length spans on either side of the center pivot. Once the bridge was completed, the owner of the property on the south side of the river did not want the swing span crossing his land. In response, the owner removed most of the south end of the swing span and added a concrete counterweight to compensate for the lost material. Legends aside, the reason for the "bobtail" configuration of the bridge is that the section of the river deep enough for navigation at that point is not wide enough to accommodate a full-sized swing bridge. The counterweight is necessary to keep both ends of the bridge in balance over the center pier, which is near the right descending bank. While the legend may be an appealing one, it cannot withstand the fact that no qualified bridge engineer would lavish the material and effort required to build a swing span over land. The bridge forces barge traffic heading up river to cross over to their respective port (south) shore of the river, while those heading downstream are able to maintain their normal traffic pattern. An earlier bridge in this location, built in 1869, was a wooden Howe truss design. This was one of the original 15 bridges spanning the Mississippi River. The first bridge was an 8-span drawbridge, but much of the superstructure had to be replaced in 1877 because of decay in the original pine chords. It was a joint bridge of the Minnesota Valley Railroad Company (predecessor of the Omaha Road) and the Minnesota Central Railroad Company (predecessor of the Milwaukee Road)

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Omaha Road Bridge Number 15 (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Omaha Road Bridge Number 15
West Water Street, Saint Paul West Side

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Wikipedia: Omaha Road Bridge Number 15Continue reading on Wikipedia

Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 44.923333333333 ° E -93.117222222222 °
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Address

Mississippi River Bridge #15

West Water Street
55107 Saint Paul, West Side
Minnesota, United States
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Omaha Road Bridge Number 15 2016 09 17 1
Omaha Road Bridge Number 15 2016 09 17 1
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High Bridge (St. Paul)
High Bridge (St. Paul)

The Smith Avenue High Bridge or the High Bridge is an inverted arch bridge that carries Minnesota State Highway 149 and Smith Avenue over the Mississippi River in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was built and opened in 1987 at a cost of $20 million. The bridge carries two lanes of street traffic over the river and is the highest bridge in St. Paul, with a deck height of 160 ft (49 m) and a clearance below of 149 ft (45 m).The current bridge replaced a 2,770-foot-long (840 m) iron Warren deck truss bridge constructed in 1889. In 1904 the original bridge was partially destroyed by a tornado or severe storm and the southernmost five spans had to be rebuilt. With modest alterations it served for nearly a century, but in 1977 an inspection found irreparable structural deficiencies. The Minnesota Department of Transportation enacted a weight restriction on the bridge until it was closed in 1984 and demolished in 1985. The ornamental ironwork on the replacement was built using iron from the old bridge. The first bridge had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 and was delisted in 1988. In February 2008, City Pages, a weekly publication in the Twin Cities, published a feature about the long history of suicide at the bridge. The article included testimony of a survivor who leapt from the bridge.The bridge closed September 2017 for a redecking project. It reopened to traffic the afternoon of November 21, 2018.