Lafayette Bridge

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name=Lafayette Bridge

---

caption=Picture of the Lafayette Bridge taken in early spring, 2006.
official_name=Lafayette Street Bridge
crosses=Mississippi River
carries=Four lanes of U.S. Route 52
locale=St. Paul, Minnesota
design=Plate girder bridge
mainspan=362 feet
length=3375 feet
width=67 feet
below=51 feet
open=1968
maint=Minnesota Department of Transportation
id=9800
coordinates= coord|44|56|48|N|93|04|45|W|region:US_type:landmark

The Lafayette Bridge is a bridge carrying U.S. Route 52 across the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul. At this point, US 52 is on the Lafayette Freeway. The bridge spans across railroad yards north of the Mississippi, the river itself, and industrial areas south of the Mississippi. The Lafayette Bridge is one of the longest Mississippi River bridges in the Twin Cities.

An earlier bridge on Lafayette Street, built in 1905 by C.A.P. Turner, was removed to make room for the Lafayette Bridge. The 1905 bridge spanned the Soo Line railroad tracks, not the river itself. This was an experimental bridge of Turner's design, being a flat slab resting on mushroom-capped columns for support.

In the aftermath of the collapse of the I-35W Mississippi bridge in Minneapolis, the Lafayette Bridge was cited by Minneapolis newspaper Star Tribune as another bridge in Minnesota with insufficient redundancy to survive the collapse of a single structural support element. [ [http://www.startribune.com/10204/story/1340882.html Fuse lit on bridge debate ] ]

ee also

*List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River

References

* cite book
last = Costello
first = Mary Charlotte
year = 2002
title = Climbing the Mississippi River Bridge by Bridge, Volume Two: Minnesota
publisher = Adventure Publications
location = Cambridge, MN
id = ISBN 0-9644518-2-4

Crossings navbox
structure = Bridges
place = Mississippi River
bridge = Lafayette Bridge
bridge signs =
upstream = Robert Street Bridge
upstream signs =
downstream = St. Paul Union Pacific Rail Bridge
downstream signs =