The Burlington Northern Railroad formerly crossed the Duluth-St. Paul harbor over the Wisconsin and Minnesota Bridge, a set of two swing bridges in line with each other just west of the I-535 High Bridge. These bridges were located in an awkward spot since nearly every ship entering the harbor had to cross though one of the two swing spans. In addition, the bridges required two operators for one crossing.

The solution was to migrate the bulk of the rail traffic to a bridge that is located just west of the Bong Bridge. It runs from the BNSF yard called "Mike's Yard" on the West Duluth waterfront over to the massive maze of rail yards and side tracks (now mostly gone) on the west side of Superior. While still a swing bridge, it is located in an area where it has to open far less often, and it only requires one bridge tender.

The Grassy Point area was the focus of a major clean up and wetlands restoration project in the 1990. A waterfront trail now runs through this area. It presents an interesting contrast between how humans build and abandon industrial facilities, and how nature builds and recycles its own infrastructure.