Interstate highway I-35 was finished between Hinkley and Duluth in 1971. That section of road replaced US-61 in many areas. Here in Scanlon, I-35 used a new road alignment that ran parallel to and just south of US-61. As a result, US-61 (since downgraded to be a county road) crosses the Saint Louis River just 1,600 feet upstream of I-35.

The I-35 bridges are two identical 486-foot long steel girder bridges. The girders are constructed from a series of very large steel I-beams. They sit on piers that are large pilings topped off with concrete pier caps. The deck and guardrails are reinforced concrete. These bridges were built at a time when the Interstate highway system was rapidly expanding. The key design features were economics and time to build. It had to be quick and cheap. As a result, the bridges a devoid of any decorative features. They do, however, serve their purpose very well. One hardly even realizes that they are crossing the dangerous Saint Louis River as they motor past at 70 miles per hour.

The river elevation at the I-35 bridges is 1,100 feet. For this point, it is a 500 foot vertical drop to Lake Superior. The river will drop this distance in just 6 miles (as the crow flies).

The top and bottom photos were taken from the canoe landing just south of the CSAH-61 bridge. The photo below is crossing the northbound span, while the third photo is crossing the southbound span.