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Cloquet River Bridge

St. Louis County, Minnesota
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Photos 

Elevation

These pics were taken back in 1998 with a rather lousy camera (sorry for the poor quality!)

Photo taken by Matthew Lohry in February 2010

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Map 

Street View 

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Lost Parker Through truss bridge over Cloquet River on CR 7
Location
St. Louis County, Minnesota
Status
Replaced by new bridge
Future prospects
Gone--another ugly UCEB for St. Louis County!
History
Built 1935; replaced 2012
Design
Parker Through truss
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 178.2 ft.
Total length: 186.4 ft.
Deck width: 23.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 13.9 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+46.89972, -92.50528   (decimal degrees)
46°53'59" N, 92°30'19" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/537681/5194139 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Alborn
Inventory numbers
MN 7649 (Minnesota bridge number)
BH 20611 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 05/2010)
Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 48.5 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2008)
809

Categories 

Built 1935 (1,456)
Built during 1930s (8,551)
Doomed (805)
Functionally obsolete (7,040)
Have street view (9,908)
Lost (10,373)
Lost 2012 (137)
Lost during 2010s (683)
Minnesota (917)
 Owned by county (16,492)
Parker through truss (947)
Parker truss (1,267)
Replaced by new bridge (7,141)
Span length 175-250 feet (1,484)
St. Louis County, Minnesota (66)
Through truss (9,211)
Total length 175-250 feet (2,790)
Truss (23,575)

Update Log 

  • November 22, 2012: Updated by Matt Lohry: Updated status--historic bridge is gone; road no longer worth wasting the fuel to drive on...
  • August 18, 2012: Updated by Matt Lohry: Updated status--bridge is currently being replaced.
  • May 14, 2010: Updated by Matthew Lohry: Updated bridge status
  • March 7, 2010: Updated by Matthew Lohry: Added Google Street View Link
  • March 2, 2010: Updated by Nathan Holth: Bridge is now doomed.
  • February 15, 2010: Updated by Matthew Lohry: Updated truss type
  • February 2, 2010: Updated by Matthew Lohry: Added some photos from 1998
  • January 30, 2010: Updated by James Baughn: Bridge is closed for repairs following IVBC (Idiot Versus Bridge Collision)

Sources 

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Comments 

Cloquet River Bridge
Posted November 22, 2012, by Matt Lohry

Just got word today from family that lives near this bridge that it is gone and the ugly new slab is open. Sure hope these knotheads are happy, as the county is down to only a few truss bridges (enough to count on one hand), and it's a geographically HUGE county. Carlton County, just to the south, is rehabbing their beautiful St. Louis River bridge (Hwy. 210), and are claiming that the bridge will last another 50 years! St. Louis County could have done that and come out ahead, as I'm sure theIr stupid new bridge will need replacement before Carlton County's rehabilitated historic bridge will!

Cloquet River Bridge
Posted August 18, 2012, by Matt Lohry

Sadly, this bridge's number has been drawn--the road is closed, and the bridge is being replaced. This was the last heavy Depression-era through truss bridge left in the county.

Cloquet River Bridge
Posted February 12, 2012, by Mike Olszewski (molszewski99 [at] yahoo [dot] com)

Visited this bridge today-open to traffic and had probably 15 vehicles cross it (including three heavy trucks) in the ten minutes or so I was there. Nice bridge. Attached a couple pics.

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Cloquet River Bridge
Posted May 15, 2010, by dave gunderson (dgunderson [at] citlink [dot] net)

Boy, I'd hate to see this one go. I have catfished around this bridge since the late 60's. Been away since the early 70's except for visits. Another great bridge was Co #8 about a mile or two upstream. It got 'upgraded' about 10 years ago. This bridge (the #7) holds great memories. I can still hear the cars go 'clunk - clunk' over it.

DGunderson

Cloquet River Bridge
Posted February 1, 2010, by Matthew Lohry (mmlohry [at] comcast [dot] net)

Sorry, that's 2010! (That pesky year change got me!)

Cloquet River Bridge
Posted January 30, 2010, by Matthew Lohry (mmlohry [at] comcast [dot] net)

This bridge was suddenly closed around January 15, 2009, due to a tractor-trailer with a large piece of heavy equipment that struck the overhead sway bracing when it attempted to cross. The bridge is owned by St. Louis County, and ironically, so was the truck that hit it. I would have thought that a St. Louis County truck driver would know his own dimensions and those of a St. Louis County highway bridge, but there I go thinking again...

According to the St. Louis County website, engineers are currently assessing damage and are considering what to do as far as repair. I certainly hope that they choose to repair the bridge rather than replace it, as this would be a devastating loss to the community and the county: This is one of the last remaining Depression-era heavy thru-truss bridges left on any roadway in St. Louis County.