The US-10 bridge is part of a 4-lane bypass around Little Falls. The issue is not that Little Falls is such a large city that it needs a freeway bypass, but rather, Little Falls in centrally located for people traveling in a number of different directions, and the bypass keeps the through traffic off of the quiet city streets.

The main channel bridge, just a few hundred feet north on US-10, is nearly 1,000 feet long. Not so for this little back channel structure. It is only 80 feet long. While the main bridge has a number of piers and spans, this little back channel bridge crosses this branch of the Mississippi River in a single leap. It is interesting that the main channel bridge has steel girders, but this small back channel bridge has concrete girders. One would think that the bridge builders would have just ordered up 80 more feet of steel and called it good.

A Mississippi River crossing that is made up of two or more bridges in series is not all that unusual, at least not on the Upper Mississippi River, but this is the only such example north of Red Wing, Minnesota.

The photo above is a view crossing the bridge heading westbound. The main channel structure is located just up the highway in this photo. The photo below is a view crossing the bridge heading eastbound. The photo at the top of the page is a telephoto view of the bridge looking north from a vantage point about one-half mile downstream.