The Soo Line Railroad built this bridge in 1909 as part of its Brooten Line. That line ran from west central Minnesota into Duluth. In its day, it was a heavily used route that transported farm goods to the harbor facilities in the Twin Ports (Duluth and Superior). The Brooten route was shut down in 1990, and the rail line was abandoned in 1993.

The railroad right-of-way was purchased by the State of Minnesota, and the Soo Line South Trail was established. The trail started near Duluth, and has been extended southwest over time. The section that contained this river crossing was a gap in the trail as of 2005 when the upper set of photos was taken. That gap was filled when this bridge was converted to a pedestrian river crossing, and the new Soo Line Trail Bridge was formally opened in May of 2007. The Soo Line South Trail is now open from the Lake Wobegon Trail near Albany, MN, all the way to the Twin Ports.

The photo above is a view of the south face of the bridge as seen from the southwest corner of the structure. The photo below is a view of the bridge deck looking east from the west end of the structure. The photo at the top of the page is a view of the north face of the bridge as seen from near the river water level from the west side of the Blanchard Dam.

The photo above is a view from 2005 prior to the bridge being converted to pedestrian use. The photo below is a view from the summer of 2007 of the north face of the bridge as seen from the nearby Blanchard Dam. Note the large wings on the piers. These wings were built to deflect ice jams that would build up in front of the bridge prior to the Blanchard Dam being constructed.

These two photos are views looking east down the length of the bridge deck. The photo above is the east approach to the bridge, while the photo below is a view from half-way across the bridge. The new deck and railings were added as part of the rails-to-trails conversion.