The Highway 243 Bridge crosses the Saint Croix River at Osceola, Wisconsin. It provides a highway river crossing between WI-35 on the east side of the river and MN-95 on the west side of the river, two highways that parallel the Saint Croix. The road on the west side of the river is designated MN-243, a highway that runs a grand total of 1-1/4 miles. The road on the east side of the river, WI-243, is the shortest state trunk highway in Wisconsin.

The Saint Croix River is much more calm here than upstream at the US-8 Bridge. The river flows through a wide valley rather than being confined between walls of rock found upstream in the Taylor's Falls area. The channel is wide and shallow with a calm current. The result is a longer bridge that is built much lower to the river.

The Highway 243 bridge gained a bit fame after the I-35W bridge collapse in 2007 due to the bridge being one of the few remaining deck truss bridges in Minnesota. A deck truss bridge has a metal lattice work of cross members, with the roadway being built on top of the truss. The deck truss is considered to be an obsolete style of bridge. The reasons include being fracture critical (ie, non-redundant, which means that any one piece breaking can result in the entire bridge failing), they are very hard to inspect (the structure is under the road rather than above the road), they are easily damaged by road salt (which can leak though cracks in the deck and cause the steel to rust), and truss bridges are far more costly to maintain.

The Highway 243 bridge receives routine inspections every other year. An additional inspection was completed shortly after the I-35W disaster. The bridge is not considered to be deficient, so it is not being considered for replacement anytime soon.

The photo above is a profile view from a park located on the Minnesota side of the river just downstream from the bridge. The photo below is looking down the length of the bridge deck to the east towards Wisconsin.