Robert Street Bridge

Picture of the Robert Street Bridge taken in early spring, 2006.
Official name	Robert Street Bridge
Carries	South Robert Street
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	St. Paul, Minnesota
Maintained by
ID number
Design	Reinforced concrete multiple-arch
Longest span	264 feet (80.5 meters)
Total length	1534.4 feet (467.7 meters)
Width	78.5 feet (23.9 meters)
Vertical clearance
Clearance below	62 feet (18.9 meters)
Average Daily Traffic
Opening date	1926
Destruction date
Toll
	[[Image:	]]
Coordinates WGS-84 (GPS)	44°56′38.13″N, 93°05′14.65″W
Maps and aerial photos Street map from Google Local or Yahoo! Maps Topographic map from TopoZone Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA Satellite image from Google Local or Microsoft Virtual Earth

The Robert Street Bridge is a reinforced concrete multiple-arch bridge that spans the Mississippi River in downtown St. Paul. The bridge is notable for its complex design that was required to accommodate river traffic, a railroad bridge crossing underneath it at an angle, and roadways on the downtown side of St. Paul. The bridge is also notable for a monumental reinforced concrete rainbow arch. The rainbow arch not only provides 62 feet of headroom above the river, but also provides a strong aesthetical focus. It was built in 1924-1926 by Fegles Construction Company, Ltd. and designed by Toltz, King & Day, Inc. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1989. This article is about the river in the United States. ... Motto: Nickname: Location in Ramsey County, Minnesota Founded 1851 Incorporated 1854 County Ramsey County Borough {{{borough}}} Parrish {{{parrish}}} Mayor Chris Coleman (DFL) Area  - Total  - Water 145. ... The National Bridge Inventory (NBI) is a database, compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, with information on all bridges and tunnels in the United States that have roads passing above or below. ... Map of Earth showing lines of latitude (horizontally) and longitude (vertically); large version (pdf) The geographic (earth-mapping) coordinate system expresses every horizontal position on Earth by two of the three coordinates of a spherical coordinate system which is aligned with the spin axis of the Earth. ... GPS satellite in orbit, image courtesy of NASA GPS redirects here. ... This article is about the river in the United States. ... Motto: Nickname: Location in Ramsey County, Minnesota Founded 1851 Incorporated 1854 County Ramsey County Borough {{{borough}}} Parrish {{{parrish}}} Mayor Chris Coleman (DFL) Area  - Total  - Water 145. ... The National Register of Historic Places is the USAs official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects worthy of preservation. ...

Another view of the Robert Street Bridge that shows how the railroad track passes underneath.

The bridge was commissioned in the early 1920s to replace a wrought-iron span, originally built in 1884-1885, that had become obsolete due to increasing traffic. The engineers who designed the bridge had several obstacles to work around. The tracks of the Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis and Omaha Railway, St. Paul Union Depot, and the Chicago Great Western Railway mainline were factors. The engineers also had to provide adequate clearance above the river, as defined by the United States War Department at the time. Finally, the bridge had to clear Second Street in downtown St. Paul and work through a busy manufacturing district at the south end. The location of nearly every pier was dictated by these requirements. As a result, the bridge was designed with a combination of barrel-arch and rib-arch flanking spans and a rainbow arch for the central span. The Chicago and North Western Railway (AAR reporting marks: CNW, CNWS, CNWZ; unofficial abbreviation: C&NW) was a Class I railroad in the United States. ... The Chicago Great Western Railway (AAR reporting mark CGW) was a Class I railroad that linked Chicago, Minneapolis, Omaha, and Kansas City. ... The United States Department of War was the military department of the United States governments executive branch from 1789 until 1949, when it became part of the United States Department of Defense. ...

This article is about the river in the United States. ...

External link

• Minnesota's Historic Bridges - Robert Street Bridge, Minnesota Historical Society. Accessed March 25, 2006.