According to the St. Louis County engineer, this bridge has been removed and a replacement is being constructed. We will be in the area in September for other bridge inspections and will verify the status of this one.
Another deserving recipient of the infamous filthy toilet award; nice work, Tony! I swear, St. Louis County probably has "truss bridges suck" stenciled across the front of their wrecking ball. There is still one truss bridge (a Pratt through truss) left outside of Duluth that is still in service, and it's only a few miles from my childhood home (where my folks still live). Since it's in this county, I don't expect that it will be around for too much longer, however...
On the bright side, it helps create an entire area I don't have to ever bother visiting. I can drive straight from Duluth to Thunder Bay and not miss anything. Saves on time. Too bad the county can't just demolish itself from the space-time continuum then I could save even more time.
On a more serious note, being as this website doesn't do Canada, I should give you folks the heads up if you ever do make the ridiculously long drive to see the magnificent Duluth Lift Bridge (and other Duluth bridges), you might as well continue on up to Thunder Bay, which has three extremely unusual movable bridges. A Strauss bascule, Scherzer bascule, and swing. All three were originally built as RR/HWY combos, two/three continue to function in this way.
Kudos to St. Louis County, the most truss bridge-hating county in the state, this is the last remaining pony truss bridge in service in the county and it is currently being replaced!
Joe, you reminded me that I had pics to post; thanks!
This bridge has been replaced by a single-span steel girder bridge with timber deck and rails and a bituminous overlay (Bridge No. 69A58).