The Third Avenue Bridge is a landmark structure of the city of

Minneapolis, Minnesota Minneapolis () is the largest city in Minnesota, United States, and the county seat of Hennepin County. The city is abundant in water, with thirteen lakes, wetlands, the Mississippi River, creeks and waterfalls. Minneapolis has its origins ...

, United States, originally known as the St. Anthony Falls Bridge. It carries road traffic across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it f ...

and upper fringes of

Saint Anthony Falls Saint Anthony Falls, or the Falls of Saint Anthony ( dak, italics=no, Owámniyomni, ) located at the northeastern edge of downtown Minneapolis, Minnesota, is the only natural major waterfall on the Mississippi River. Throughout the mid-to-late 1 ...

. The multi-

arch An arch is a vertical curved structure that spans an elevated space and may or may not support the weight above it, or in case of a horizontal arch like an arch dam, the hydrostatic pressure against it. Arches may be synonymous with vaul ...

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

meets with Third Avenue in downtown Minneapolis at its south end, but curves as it crosses the river, and connects with Central Avenue on its north end. The shallow "S" curve in the bridge was built to avoid fractures in the limestone bedrock that supports the bridge piers. The road is also designated

Minnesota State Highway 65 Minnesota State Highway 65 (MN 65) is a highway in the east–central and northeast parts of the U.S. state of Minnesota, which starts at its split from I-35W, skipping past the downtown Minneapolis core, only to resume at the intersection with ' ...

. Construction began in 1914, and it opened four years later in 1918. The bridge, which uses Melan arches of an

open spandrel A spandrel is a roughly triangular space, usually found in pairs, between the top of an arch and a rectangular frame; between the tops of two adjacent arches or one of the four spaces between a circle within a square. They are frequently fil ...

design, has been modified since that time. The 2,223-foot (667.6 m) crossing was designed by city engineer Frederick W. Cappelen, who also created plans for other similar bridges in Minneapolis such as the

Franklin Avenue Bridge The Franklin Avenue Bridge, officially the F.W. Cappelen Memorial Bridge, carries Franklin Avenue over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was designed by Frederick William Cappelen, assisted by Kristoffer Olsen Oustad, both ...

. It cost

US$ The United States dollar (symbol: $; code: USD; also abbreviated US$ or U.S. Dollar, to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies; referred to as the dollar, U.S. dollar, American dollar, or colloquially buck) is the official ...

862,254.00 at the time of construction.

Renovation

The bridge underwent a major overhaul in 1979–1980. Another restoration is underway to extend its life 50 years with a new deck, and other improvements to barriers, railings, and lighting. As the bridge is a contributing member of the

St. Anthony Falls Historic District The following are all the contributing resources to the Saint Anthony Falls Historic District in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, United States. The District is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, thus these proper ...

, a goal of the project is preserving its historic design elements. The construction project began in May 2020 with partial closure of the bridge and is scheduled to be complete in November 2022 at an estimated cost of $129.3 million. On January 4, 2021, the bridge was fully closed to traffic and will remain closed for the duration of construction. The project is being led by Burnsville-based Ames Construction. 3rd Ave Bridge Into Downtown Minneapolis

3rd Ave Bridge Into Downtown Minneapolis

Notes

References

Bridges 2005: Third Avenue Bridge
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Saint Anthony Main Saint Anthony Main refers to an area of buildings with multiple owners located on Main Street across from Saint Anthony Falls in the Nicollet Island/East Bank, Minneapolis section of Southeast, Minneapolis in the U.S. state of Minnesota. Common ...

.
Third Avenue Bridge - Minneapolis Riverfront District Bridges 2005
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External links

{{Registered Historic Places Bridges over the Mississippi River Bridges in Minneapolis Bridges completed in 1918 Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Minnesota Concrete bridges in Minnesota Historic district contributing properties in Minnesota National Register of Historic Places in Minneapolis Open-spandrel deck arch bridges in the United States Shared-use paths in Minneapolis

Renovation

See also

Notes

References

External links