Post on 25-May-2020
Bridge No: L08515
County Name : Saint Louis
City/Township: Duluth
MINNESOTA IDSTORIC BRIDGE INVENTORY
Inventory Number : S L - l) \J l - 2.6{ 2. b
National Register EUglble : Yes
Critieria : C
Township: 050 Range: 14W Section: 11 sw-Nt- tJw Context : Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges in Minnesota
Period of Significance : 1922-194 7 UTM Coordinates: 15:570676:5186505
Structural Data
Main Span Type :
number main spam :
number appr spans :
structure length :
deck width:
Historical Data
S7o7>0 ~-/86'i"Lo
112
01
46.00
29.00
Year built: 1922
Contractor/Builder : City of Duluth
USGS Quadrangle : Duluth Retains Integrity : Yes
Superstrurture : single-span concrete arch
Substructure : stone-faced concrete abutments with flared wingwalls
Floor/Decking : earth fill over concrete arch supports bituminous paving
Other Features : sidewalks bordered by stone railings
Designer: City of Duluth Engineer's Office
Statement of significance :
Carrying Lewis Street over Tischers Creek, Bridge No. L08515 stands in a residential neighborhood ofDuluth known as "Oatmeal Hill." The crossing is a 16-foot, earth-filled, stone-faced concrete arch with a 27 -foot roadway bordered by a sidewalk on the north. The bridge's parapet walls rise above the roadway to form stone railings crested with angular rock fragments. The bridge's masonry veneer is rubblework native gabbro. With its dark craggy stonework and spiked railings, the bridge recalls the picturesque Rustic Style popularized by the National Park Service during the early twentieth centwy.
In January 1922, the Duluth City Council decided that "public convenience and safety" required the construction of a highway crossing over Tischers Creek on Lewis Street in an area of the city known as Oatmeal Hill, which had been developed during the late nineteenth century as a summer enclave for well-to-do Duluth residents. In keeping with the district's rural suburban character, the city engineer's office designed the new crossing as a stone-faced concrete arch, using a cladding of native gabbro -- a dark, durable rock, known locally as bluestone, that was widely employed for building purposes in the Duluth area. Instead of putting the work out to bid, the city constructed the bridge with day labor, under the supervision of municipal engineer E.K. Coe. Construction was completed before the end of 1922, at a total cost of $3,296.
With its well-crafted, uncoursed, rock-faced masonry and angular parapet cresting, Bridge No. L08515 is a fine example of the Rustic Style. The bridge is eligible for its architectural design under Criterion C, within the historic context of "Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges in Minnesota, 1900-1945." The Multiple Property Documentation Form
Hess, Roise and Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota
._,
MINNESOTA ffiSTORIC BRIDGE INVENfORY
ass_ociated .with this context states, in Registration Criterion 5, that a concrete highway bridge may be eligible under Criterion C if it displays notable aesthetics. Bridge No. 1°8515 satisfies this criterion.
References :
~esota Department of Transportation Bridge Database; Bridge No. 108515 File, in Minnesota Department of Transportation, Waters Edge Building, Roseville? Minnesolil:; Bndge No. 108515 File, in Engineering Division, Duluth Public Works Department, Duluth, Minnesota; Duluth City Council, Proceedings, 16, 18 January.l922, m Duluth Cl~ Hall, D~lu~; Robert M.. Frame, "Reinforced-Concrete Highway Bridges in Minnesota, • National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property DocumentatiOn Form, Sec. F, 8• m State Histone Preservation Office, Minnesota Historical Society, St. Paul; field inspection by Shawn P. Rounds, 19 September 1996.
Form Prepared By : Jeffrey A. Hess
Hess, Raise and Company, Minneapolis, Minnesota