Township Road #156 is a small gravel road that crosses Marsh Lake between
MN-7 and Lac Qui Parle CSAH-38. Highway signs mark it as a path between
the tiny cities of Correll and Louisburg. There was likely a more direct
route between these two cities that was flooded out in 1938 when the pool
behind Marsh Lake Dam started to fill. There also was likely and older
bridge in place of the Cement Bridge, likely an older steel truss bridge.
The Cement Bridge dates back to 1991. I don't know why it is called the
Cement Bridge, but I suspect that it was named the Cement bridge due to
it being made out of cement, whereas the previous bridge was iron or steel.
The bridge is made of concrete girders and a concrete deck. With light
traffic and occasional maintenance, the bridge should last a century or
more.
Despite the low traffic, this is a popular fishing spot. There is a
parking area on the south east corner of the bridge for day-use
activities.
The photo above is a view of the deck of the bridge. Here, we see the
walkway on the downstream side of the bridge. This is just a bit humorous
given that with an average of 40 cars per day, one could lay down and take
a 20 minute nap in the middle of the road and have almost zero chance of
being run over. Still, it is good to encourage safe pedestrian access to
important river crossings.
The photo below is the bridge builder's plate.
These two photos are views of the side of the bridge. With the high
water at the time these photos were taken, the water is nearly up to
the level of the bridge girders. The water would, however, flood the
road before flooding the bridge.
These two photos are views of the causeway towards the north end of the
river crossing. The photo above is a view that includes Marsh Lake.
The photo below shows where water is right up to the road level, and
starting to creep onto the road itself.
The photo above is a view of one of several sets of culverts that allow
water from Marsh Lake to cross under the highway. In this photo, we
can see that the culverts are almost totally submerged. One can also
see that the joints in the concrete between culvert sections are also
leaking. That shows how much water pressure is inside these culverts.
The photo below was taken on the upstream side of the culverts. A
whirlpool has developed above the entrance to one of the culverts.