The Saint Croix River is much more calm here than upstream at the US-8 Bridge. The channel is wider and more shallow, while the river itself flows through a wide valley rather than being confined between walls of rock.
The Highway 243 bridge gained some additional fame after the I-35W bridge collapse in 2007 due to the bridge being one of the few remaining deck truss bridges. A deck truss 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 that they are 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 finally, truss bridges are far more costly to maintain.
The Highway 243 bridge was inspected shortly after the I-35W disaster, and it receives routine inspections every other year. The bridge is not considered to be deficient, so it is not being considered for replacement anytime soon.
