Cannon Bottoms Rd Bridge, main channel

I was equally upset to see the reports of the imminent doom of these three historic structures. It does not make sense to me to squander the tax money on demolition of structures that they have no intention of replacing, especially since these areas will be subsequently inaccessible by the people that use them for recreation, and since the bridges (at least the concrete one) seem to be in excellent structural condition.

I was down in the Cannon river bridge area this past January on old highway 61 and managed to get a picture of what appears to be the same bridge.

Also, there's a blog that talks about the various bridges in the area along the old 61 route here:

http://www.deadpioneer.com/blog/?p=65

Wow, that is really pathetic. Not only are they wasting tax dollars, they are destroying history and a functional crossing. Further, the structural condition of this bridge appears excellent with no major spalling, cracking, etc visible, at least in the provided photos. Red Wing would should produce inspection reports that show this bridge was in imminent danger of collapse. However, I highly doubt such a report exists, since I suspect the bridge could still carry a loaded semi truck.

It is a pitiful shame the City of Red Wing is demolishing this bridge and 2 other bridges on this stretch of old hwy 61 this summer. The bridges have been used by snowmobiles, hunters, fisherman, bicyclist and nature lovers. I and countless others are really sad to see the bridges go.