A Bridge is Born
Throughout my time in Duluth, I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in many unique projects with the railroad.While these pictures are nothing to write home about, I don't believe many people are aware of this event taking place.
Over the famous Lester River, there are a many number of bridges. Most famously, the 7 bridges of "7 Bridges Rd" fame. Then there's the Neo Classical Revival London Road bridge at the mouth of Lester where it meets the mighty Lake Superior, standing tall at 93 years of age. Older still is the railroad bridge, referred to by Lakeside locals simply as "train bridge" where its known for high numbers of youth jumping 60 feet down into the river. Built in the late 1880's for the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad, it also is very well known. By 2013 the Lakewalk expansion had steamrolled itself all the way from 26th Ave E. to 61st Ave E. in the Lakeside neighborhood but had come to a halt as it encountered a major obstacle... the Lester River. A bridge was designed, but a major roadblock was discovered. While it could be trucked to the site, for final installation the roadway bridge was too far away to lift from, and no crane was big enough to lift all the way across the river. However, there was a railroad bridge directly adjacent to the proposed new bridge location. Thus on August 13th, 2013, I found myself positioning flatcars for one of the most unique moves I have been a part of. We were in position with I believe 4 flat cars, and the bridge was lifted very carefully on the flat cars. Even just putting on the cars it was an incredible tight fit to get it snug. Once the bridge was on, we very slowly pulled the bridge over the river, where two cranes on each side of the river grabbed a side and moved it into place. It was truly an incredible sight!
A Bridge is Born
Throughout my time in Duluth, I was fortunate enough to be able to participate in many unique projects with the railroad.While these pictures are nothing to write home about, I don't believe many people are aware of this event taking place.
Over the famous Lester River, there are a many number of bridges. Most famously, the 7 bridges of "7 Bridges Rd" fame. Then there's the Neo Classical Revival London Road bridge at the mouth of Lester where it meets the mighty Lake Superior, standing tall at 93 years of age. Older still is the railroad bridge, referred to by Lakeside locals simply as "train bridge" where its known for high numbers of youth jumping 60 feet down into the river. Built in the late 1880's for the Duluth and Iron Range Railroad, it also is very well known. By 2013 the Lakewalk expansion had steamrolled itself all the way from 26th Ave E. to 61st Ave E. in the Lakeside neighborhood but had come to a halt as it encountered a major obstacle... the Lester River. A bridge was designed, but a major roadblock was discovered. While it could be trucked to the site, for final installation the roadway bridge was too far away to lift from, and no crane was big enough to lift all the way across the river. However, there was a railroad bridge directly adjacent to the proposed new bridge location. Thus on August 13th, 2013, I found myself positioning flatcars for one of the most unique moves I have been a part of. We were in position with I believe 4 flat cars, and the bridge was lifted very carefully on the flat cars. Even just putting on the cars it was an incredible tight fit to get it snug. Once the bridge was on, we very slowly pulled the bridge over the river, where two cranes on each side of the river grabbed a side and moved it into place. It was truly an incredible sight!