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| Name | Gateway State Trail - I-35E Bridge Minnesota Highway Department Bridge #6512 |
| Built By | Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railroad |
| Currently Owned By | Minnesota Department of Natural Resources |
| Superstructure Contractor | Paper, Calmenson & Company of St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Substructure Contractor | Ashbach Construction Company of St. Paul, Minnesota |
| Design Engineer | Ellerbe & Company of Minneapolis, Minnesota |
| Length | 248 Feet Total, 76 Foot Largest Span |
| Width | 2 Tracks |
| Height Above Ground | 20 Feet (Estimated) |
| Superstructure Design | Deck Plate Girder |
| Substructure Design | Concrete |
| Date Built | 1960 |
| Date Removed | 2014 |
| Traffic Count | 0 Trains/Day (Bridge has been Removed) |
| Current Status | Removed |
| Significance | Local Significance |
| Documentation Date | 3/26/2014; 5/20/2014 |
In 1880, the Wisconsin and Minnesota Railroad (W&M) would complete 54 miles of new railroad extending from Abbotsford to Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin. By 1885, 109 additional miles would be completed from Chippewa Falls to St. Paul, Minnesota. In 1888, the W&M would be acquired by the Wisconsin Central Railroad, which would be renamed the Wisconsin Central Railway (WC) in 1899. The WC had previously completed a mainline, extending from Chicago to Abbotsford. In 1909, the WC would be leased by the Minneapolis, St. Paul & Sault Ste. Marie Railway (Soo Line), which itself was controlled by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP). The Soo Line had constructed a large network of railroads, connecting the Upper Midwest with Canadian Railroads.
In 1910, the WC began a series of projects to reconstruct the route. The largest project was a new 18-mile alignment between Withrow and New Richmond, Wisconsin and the bridge over the St. Croix River, which opened in 1911. This new alignment reduced the amount of grades and curves, and provided a connection to the Soo Line tracks at Withrow. Additional relocations included 19 miles between Owen and Spencer which bypassed Abbotsford, and 11 miles between Colfax and Howard. The old St. Croix River bridge would be scrapped in 1916, the Abbotsford to Curtiss segment abandoned in 1934, and the Curtiss to Owen segment abandoned in 1938. By 1961, the WC, Soo Line and Duluth, South Shore & Atlantic would be merged to form Soo Line Corporation, a holding company controlled by Canadian Pacific Railway. The segment between St. Paul and Carnelian Junction would be abandoned in 1980, and acquired by the Minnesota DNR. In 1984, the Soo Line would be reorganized as the Soo Line Corporation in advance of a pending purchase of the Chicago, Milwaukee, St. Paul & Pacific Railroad (Milwaukee Road).
After the Soo Line acquired the Milwaukee Road in 1986, this route became less important, as the Milwaukee Road purchase provided Soo with additional connections between Chicago and St. Paul. In 1987, the route would be sold to Wisconsin Central, Ltd. Known as the "new" Wisconsin Central, the railroad acquired several excess rail lines from the Soo Line and C&NW, before being acquired as the American subsidiary of Canadian National Railway in 2001. Today, the Gateway Trail utilizes the line between Carnelian Junction and St. Paul, while CN operates the remainder of the line as the Minneapolis Subdivision, part of the principal CN connection between Minneapolis and Chicago.
Located north of downtown St. Paul, this deck plate girder bridge once carried a former Soo Line mainline over Interstate 35E south of Arlington Avenue. Built in 1960, the bridge consisted of a 76-foot, a 75-foot, a 51-foot and a 48-foot deck plate girder spans, set onto concrete substructures. In addition, the bridge ran at a heavy 48-degree right skew. The superstructure followed a standard design for interstate-era railroad underpasses in Minnesota, with four heavy plate girders under each track, with a ninth supporting a center walkway. Cantilevered walkways were present on each side of the bridge, which were supported by angled plates. The piers consisted of four concrete columns, with a deocrative concrete arch connecting each column and stamps on the outer columns. The abutments used a standard U-shaped design, with wing walls extending parallel to the tracks. Paper, Calmenson & Company, a local steel fabricator in St. Paul, fabricated the superstructure. The substructures and erection of the bridge were completed by Ashbach Construction Company. This style of bridge was commonly used for Interstate grade separations, due to the ease of construction and durability. Because the bridge was an early Interstate grade separation, it was notable for featuring a number of decorative features, particularly in the substructures After the railroad was abandoned, the bridge was reused as part of the Gateway State Trail. Overall, the bridge appeared to be in fair to good condition at the time of documentation, with no significant deterioration noted. The bridge was removed but not replaced in 2014, as part of a reconstruction of Interstate 35E. The author has ranked this bridge as being locally significant, due to the use of relatively unknown builders and the decorative design features.
Citations
| Builders and build date | Shop Drawings on the MNDOT Electronic Plan Site |
| Railroad History Citation | ICC Valuation Information, Compiled by Richard S. Steele |