The St. Paul and Pacific Railroad built the first bridge across the Mississippi River in the Twin Cities area at this location. The bridge opened May 1, 1867. This is really two river crossings, a smaller channel on the east, and the larger main channel on the west, with Nicollet Island in the middle.
The bridge was rebuilt in 1893, with the long main channel truss being replaced by the deck girder. A major remodeling was completed in 1926, this time, seeing the smaller east channel bridge being replaced with a deck girder. In 1963, the 9-foot navigation project required replacing two of the beam spans on the main channel with larger truss section to allow river boats to travel upstream. The bridge was further modified in 1987 with the construction of the West River Parkway, this time, to allow a roadway to go under the west end of the west span.
This bridge has gone through a number of owners since 1867, with both bridges in the crossing now being owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad. Despite all the ownership changes, this is still a heavily traveled route. One does not have to wait long to see a train cross this structure.
The secondary channel bridge is shown in the last picture below. That bridge is also double-tracked. It is 227 feet long, with a main span of 67 feet, and it sits about 14 feet above the water.
