Lower Saint Anthony Falls Lock & Dam is a lessor known structure in the Twin Cities area. The structure itself is closed to the public, so there is no observation deck, and even the entry road is posted. The river makes a sweeping turn, so you cannot see the dam by looking up- river. Hills on both sides of the river hide the structure. The best view is from I-35W, but that is a very busy highway, and it is not possible to stop to take a photograph.

Despite not being well known, the dam is still a fairly large structure. It has a 24-foot head. While there is no hydro-power at this dam today, we can expect to see it in the future.

The photo above is taken from the east side river flats. This area is open to people who have business at the University of Minnesota Tandem Accelerator Lab. This is the only legal spot I could find to take a photo of the downstream side of the Lock & Dam.

The photo above is another view of the downstream side of the Lower Falls structure. It was taken from the 10th Avenue Bridge. This photo is only possible with the collapse of the I-35W bridge, which would normally block the view of the lock & dam from the 10th Avenue Bridge. Note the nice view of the Stone Arch Bridge and the 3rd Avenue Bridge in the background. The lock and this section of the Mississippi River was closed from August 1, 2007 to October 5, 2007 following the I-35W bridge disaster.

The photo below is the upstream side of the dam from the west side of the river. The entrance to the locks is in the center right side of the photo, while the spillway is on the left side. This photo is taken from the parking lot at the Mill Ruins Park. Notice the green metal structure of the old I-35W bridge in the background spanning from the edge of photo across to the trees on the right.

Another view from upstream of the dam structure. This photo was taken from the Stone Arch Bridge. The photo below was taken from below the dam from the parking lot at the Tandem Accelerator Lab. The downtown skyline is visible in the background.

The photo above is the University of Minnesota steam plant. It is used to heat most of the Minneapolis campus. While this structure is built right on the river, it is not a hydro power plant. It was hoped that this building would be removed when it became obsolete in the 1980's. Instead, the University invested millions to rebuild the plant. This rules out using much of the east bank of the river for parkland. Fans of the rock bank Pink Floyd think of the album Animals when they see this building. While it resembles the powerplant on the cover of Animals, that power plant is the Battersea Power Station on the River Thames.

The photo below shows a patch of empty land between the U of M Steam Plant and the Lock & Dam spillway. This is the location of the former Xcel Energy hydro power station. The power plant suffered scour (being undercut by water) leading to the building collapsing. It was removed in 1988 and the area filled in. There are proposals for future use of this land. The most popular seems to be a whitewater rapids park.