This is my fifth installment visiting the bridges and structures of a
great American river. This time we visit the bridges and dams of the
Saint Louis River, which empties into Lake Superior in the twin port
cities of Duluth, Minnesota and Superior, Wisconsin.
The Saint Louis
River is a river of contrasts. It is only miles between locations
where the river is only a trickle to where the river supports ocean
going ships. It is the same distance from where tiny country roads
freely cross the river to where the bridges in the harbor are some
of the most impressively large bridges in the nation. For over a
century, the Saint Louis River was treated as little more than an
international dumping ground and industrial sewer, earning it recognition
for being one of the most polluted rivers in the nation. Nature is
slowly reclaiming the river and repairing the damage, resulting in a
river and its parks becoming a very popular tourist attraction.
Status—this is a work in progress. Many of the pages are complete.
I am still working on photography in the Thomson Dam and Jay Cooke State
Park areas, plus a few of the railroad bridges are proving to be difficult
to get access to for photography. This should be complete by the end of 2009.
