LOWRY AVENUE BRIDGE

The 'Lowry Avenue Bridge' is a truss bridge that spans the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It is notable in that it has a steel grid deck that drains directly through the mesh, as opposed to the more common concrete deck.

Contents

History

State of current bridge

See also

References

External links

History

The original bridge at this location was built in 1887 by Kristoffer Olsen Oustad, an engineer with the City of Minneapolis.
A new bridge was built at this location in 1905, using the same style, but not designed by Oustad. This incarnation of the bridge lasted 51 years until it became too weak to carry traffic.
In 1958, five new truss spans were built in this location, using the same piers but raised 20 feet to allow navigation on the upper Mississippi River.
Lead-based paint was removed from the bridge during a 2004 repainting effort and the steel grid deck was replaced in 2003.

State of current bridge

During the 2004 repainting, engineers discovered that the pier 3 bearings had displaced 11 inches east of their original location as a result of unexpected movement of that pier (west) towards the main river channel. Hennepin County contracted with Wiss, Janey, Elstner and Associates (WJE) to investigate and report on the cause and extent of damage. The consultant's report concluded that evidence suggested the pier underwent many years, perhaps 50, of creep deflection due to sustained lateral earth pressure at the foundation which was held in check by the bearing assemblies. The bearing assemblies ultimate strength was finally overcome sometime in 2004 which allowed the unrestrained and rapid movement of the pier. The structural engineers at WJE were unable to predict the magnitude of future pier displacements. ^[1]
Hennepin County has since identified this bridge for replacement (2007 Hennepin County Transportation Capital Improvement Program).

See also

★ List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River

References

★ Climbing the Mississippi River Bridge by Bridge, Volume Two: Minnesota, , Mary Charlotte, Costello, Adventure Publications, 2002, ISBN 0-9644518-2-4
1. LOWRY AVENUE BRIDGE:Investigation of Westward Displacement of Pier 3, 2004 - Wiss, Janey, Elstner and Associates

External links

★ Lowry Avenue Bridge by John Weeks

★ Lowry Avenue Bridge Replacement Project Website