Third Avenue Bridge

Located above St. Anthony Falls in Minneapolis, this iconic concrete arch bridge crosses the Mississippi River on an S-curve. Built in 1917, the bridge features eight open spandrel concrete arch spans of varying sizes. These concrete arches were originally approached by concrete deck girder spans. While the bridge was originally constructed for automobile traffic, the Twin Cities Rapid Transit Company ran streetcars over this bridge. It is believed that the final streetcars ran over this bridge in 1954.

Crossings had been planned at this location for many years. Various proposals, ranging from tunnels to steel bridges, were considered. Most important was not impacting the falls, which was vital for the milling industry and power generation. As a result, the final design included a large s-curve in the structure. Large concrete arch bridges such as this were commonly used to cross large rivers, due to the durability of the structures. Overall, this bridge appears to be in good condition. The original approaches were replaced in 1979, and the bridge received a complete rehabilitation, which was completed in 2023. The author has ranked this bridge as being moderately significant, based on the limited interaction with railroad operations. From a historic bridge standpoint, this bridge would be ranked highly significant, due to the unique conditions in which the bridge was built.