Highway 24 Bridge
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Highway 24 Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 45°25′04″N 94°02′37″W / 45.41778°N 94.04361°W |
| Carries | Two lanes of  MN 24 |
| Crosses | Mississippi River |
| Locale | Clearwater, Minnesota |
| Maintained by | Minnesota Department of Transportation |
| ID number | 6557 |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Steel girder bridge |
| Total length | 1144 feet |
| Width | 38 feet |
| Longest span | 148 feet |
| Clearance below | 42 feet |
| History | |
| Opened | 1958 |
| Location | |
 | |
The old Minnesota Highway 24 Bridge was a steel girder bridge that spanned the Mississippi River between Clearwater, Minnesota and the east bank near Clear Lake, Minnesota. It was designed and built in 1958 by the Minnesota Department of Transportation,[1] opening in 1960 and closing in 2017 when the new Hwy. 24 bridge opened.
The new Hwy. 24 bridge is 1,235 ft. long, made up of more than 5,000 yards of concrete and 517,000 tons of steel.[2]
The new bridge is the third on the site after a swing-cable ferry operated from 1856 to 1930 and 1944 to 1960. A repurposed bridge was installed in 1930 but washed away in 1943 and the ferry was back in operation from 1944 to 1960.[2]
The Highway 24 bridge crosses a river road and three spans of floodplain before actually crossing the Mississippi.[1]
