Aerial Lift Bridge Duluth Minnesota

Aerial Lift Bridge Duluth Minnesota

The Duluth Aerial Lift Bridge is a span-drive configuration movable lift bridge constructed in 1901-1905 and modified in 1929. It is located on Lake Avenue and spans the Duluth Ship Canal, which connects the city of Duluth with Minnesota Point. The bridge was designed by Thomas F. McGilvray and C.A.P. Turner, and constructed by the Modern Steel Structural Company. The original 1901-1905 aerial bridge had a gondola car suspended by an inverted steel tower from the underside of the truss. This truss remains extant as a structural member of the bridge. In 1929 the bridge was modified by adding an elevating roadway to replace the traversing platform, lengthening the steel towers, and incorporating new structural support within the confines of the old towers to carry the counterweight roadway. It is significant as a rare type of bridge engineering and as a resource in the Duluth Ship Canal Historic District.