Claim to fame: while the name Wakota sounds Native American, it actually came from a 1960 name the bridge contest. Wakota was suggested by a grade school girl. It is a combination of the names Washington and Dakota, the two counties on either end of the bridge.

The old Wakota Bridge has been a southeast metro area landmark since it was built. While the bridge is still sound, it is simply overwhelmed by traffic, with significant backups many hours each day. This bridge is scheduled to be imploded after the end of the 2006 shipping season, so visit her while she is still standing. Once the old span is gone, the eastbound lanes of the new Wakota Bridge will be built in that location.

The fourth to last photo shows an unusual detail of the bridge. When it was rebuilt in 1988, the entrance and exit ramps for the interchanges on each end of the bridge were flared into the bridge to lengthen the acceleration and deceleration areas. On the southwest corner of the bridge, it was impossible to make the pier wider to accommodate adding the steel to make the ramp wider. That was due to a rail line that ran under that section of the bridge. To solve the problem, two small piers were built, and a steel beam was set parallel to the rail line. That steel beam carried the girders that formed the wider entrance ramp from Hardman Avenue.

The final three photos show the bridge being removed in the winter of 2006 and 2007.