The Floodwood Bridge is a modern style prestressed concrete girder bridge with a reinforced concrete deck. It has the modern style slanted and solid guardrails. The only noteworthy feature of the bridge is that it is unexpectedly narrow for a county state-aid highway. At 32 feet, there is room for two standard sized lanes, and very little room for shoulders. There is also no designated pedestrian walkway, but with such low traffic levels, that probably is not a significant operational issue.
The East Savanna River joins the Saint Louis River just downstream of this bridge. The East Savanna River is part of the historic Savanna Portage trail. While native Americans knew of this connection, it was the early trappers and traders that made use of the trail. One could paddle down the Saint Lawrence Seaway, through the great lakes, across Lake Superior, up the Saint Louis River, down the East Savanna River, across a short portage, then down the West Savanna River, across Big Sandy Lake, across a short 2,000 foot portage, and then be in the Mississippi River headed towards the Gulf of Mexico or the Mississippi River headwaters area. The portage was so heavily used that locks and dams were installed, and it became the first improved waterway in the new world.
The photo above is a view of the upstream north side of the bridge as seen from the west bank of the Saint Louis River. The photo below is looking east along the downstream south face of the Floodwood Bridge.
