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10th Avenue bridge

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The 10th Avenue Bridge

 

 

 

 

 

 The 10th Avenue Bridge Taken By Michael Hicks (Flickr Profile:  Mulad)

 

 

The 10th Avenue bridge connects 10th Avenue Southeast, on the east side of the Mississippi River to 19th Avenue South, on the west side. [2]  It was extremely convenient for students at the U of M to cross the bridge walking or biking to or from east bank to west bank prior to the bridge collapse.  Because the 10th Avenue Bridge was closed to all the commuters, it pushed all the traffic towards the Washington Avenue Bridge and the Hennepin bridges. The 10th Avenue Bridge is also called the Cedar Avenue Bridge, and is historically significant because of the way that the bridge had been constructed. 

 

 

The monumental reinforced concrete bridge gave much more support for traffic and street car volumes that had been merged from cities onto highways.  When the Cedar Avenue Bridge was completed in 1929, it was the longest and highest of these types of bridges built in Minneapolis at this time.  The overall structure length was 2,921 feet with a vertical clearance of 110 feet.  The Cedar Avenue Bridge was also technologically significant in that era because it was one of the first contructed bridges that used water-cement ratio specifications for concrete, which was more economical.  The engineer that designed the Cedar Avenue Bridge was one of the four engineers that designed all the great bridges of the Twin Cities. 

 

 

Norwegian-American engineer, Kristoffer Olsen Oustad solely designed the Cedar Avenue Bridge but also assisted in the design of the 3rd Avenue Bridge and the Cappelen Memorial Bridge.  Federal authorization of the bridge began in 1924, with the plan approval in 1926.  The lowest construction bid was accepted in 1926 for $891,000, and work commenced shortly after in the same year and was completed in 1929 [1].  The original Cedar Avenue Bridge was built in 1872 near the Hennepin Avenue Bridge.  The bridge had a different construct design to it that included an Iron Parker Truss structure, which was only in service until 1934, and in 1942 was torn down and the metal was scrapped  for World War II efforts [2].

 

Bridge Plans Post Bridge Collapse

A new bridge layout that accomodated traffic after the bridge collapse cost around $120,000.  The new layout accomodates less vehicles than before but increases the accessability of the bridge for pedestrians and bikers that are trying to get from East Bank to West Bank.  There are two bicycle lanes and two pedestrian lanes, of one which is facing the collapse that is intended for viewing purposes. These modifications to the 10th Avenue Bridge were primarily from community concerns regarding traffic in certain surrounding neighborhoods.  [3]  

 

 

SEE ALSO: 

 

The Price of the Collapse

 

 

 

1.  Minnesota's Historic Bridges.  Retrieved on 4.12.08.  10th Avenue Bridge

2.  Wikipedia.  Last modified on 4.8.12. Cedar Avenue Bridge

3.  Ewart, Anna.  Minnesota Daily.  Retrieved on 4.12.08 Traffic Accomodation

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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