The Bridges And Structures Of The Upper Minnesota River

By John Weeks

This is my ninth photo tour detailing the bridges and structures of a great American river. In this survey, we visit the bridges, locks, and dams on the Minnesota River between its confluence with the Mississippi River to the source of the Minnesota River at Big Stone Lake along the Minnesota and South Dakota state line. The Minnesota River is important in a number of different aspects. In geological terms, the Minnesota was the primary outlet of the glacial lakes before the Mississippi River headwaters section was formed. In historic terms, the Minnesota was one of the first superhighways in the US, connecting the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers to the interior of Canada. In economic terms, the Minnesota flows though the heart of the vegetable canning area of Minnesota and home of the Jolly Green Giant. That area of Minnesota is now laser leveled and drain tiled. This means that rainwater that falls is often in the river within as little as 30 minutes, as opposed to the hours and days in generations past. This gives agricultural runoff a direct path to the river. It also configures the river to support the monumental floods that we have seen in the past fifty years.