High Bridge (St. Paul)

{{Short description|Bridge in St. Paul, Minnesota}}

{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}

{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}

{{Infobox Bridge

|bridge_name = Smith Avenue High Bridge

|image = High Bridge and downtown St Paul.jpg

|image_size = 300px

|caption = The High Bridge with downtown Saint Paul in the background

|official_name =

|crosses = Mississippi River

|carries = Two lanes of {{jct|state=MN|MN|149}}

|locale = Saint Paul, Minnesota

|design = Inverted arch and two half-arches for the main span; eight plate girder spans on the north side

|mainspan = {{convert|520|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|length = {{convert|2770|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|width = {{convert|54|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|height = {{convert|160|ft|m|abbr=on}} (deck)

|below = {{convert|149|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|open = July 1987

|maint = Minnesota Department of Transportation

|id = 62090

|coordinates = {{coord|44|55|59|N|93|06|16|W|region:US-MN_type:landmark|display=inline,title}}

}}

The Smith Avenue High Bridge or the High Bridge is an inverted arch bridge that carries Minnesota State Highway 149 and Smith Avenue over the Mississippi River in Saint Paul, Minnesota, United States. It was built and opened in 1987 at a cost of $20 million. The bridge carries two lanes of street traffic over the river and is the highest bridge in St. Paul, with a deck height of {{convert|160|ft|m|abbr=on}} and a clearance below of {{convert|149|ft|m|abbr=on}}.{{Cite web |last=Weeks III |first=John A. |title=Smith Avenue High Bridge |url=http://www.johnweeks.com/bridges/pages/ms07.html |date=2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160529032721/http://www.johnweeks.com/bridges/pages/ms07.html |archive-date=May 29, 2016 |url-status=live |access-date=November 8, 2016}}{{Cite book |last=Costello |first=Mary Charlotte |year=2002 |title=Climbing the Mississippi River Bridge by Bridge, Volume Two: Minnesota |publisher=Adventure Publications |location=Cambridge, Minn. |isbn=0-9644518-2-4}}

The current bridge replaced a {{convert|2770|ft|m|adj=mid|-long}} iron Warren deck truss bridge constructed in 1889. In 1904 the original bridge was partially destroyed by a tornado or severe storm and the southernmost five spans had to be rebuilt. With modest alterations it served for nearly a century, but in 1977 an inspection found irreparable structural deficiencies. The Minnesota Department of Transportation enacted a weight restriction on the bridge until it was closed in 1984 and demolished in 1985. The ornamental ironwork on the replacement was built using iron from the old bridge.{{Cite book |last=El-Hai |first=Jack |title=Lost Minnesota: Stories of Vanished Places |location=Minneapolis |publisher=University of Minnesota Press |year=2000 |isbn=0816635153}} The first bridge had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1981 and was delisted in 1988.

In February 2008, City Pages, a weekly publication in the Twin Cities, published a feature about the long history of suicide at the bridge. The article included testimony of a survivor who leapt from the bridge.{{Cite web |title=St. Paul's High Bridge: Suicide Hot Spot - City Pages (Minneapolis/St. Paul) |url=http://www.citypages.com/2008-02-06/feature/a-long-way-down/ |access-date=2013-04-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130806013027/http://www.citypages.com/2008-02-06/feature/a-long-way-down/ |archive-date=2013-08-06 |url-status=dead}}

The bridge closed September 2017 for a redecking project.{{Cite web |url=http://www.dot.state.mn.us/metro/projects/hwy149highbridge/ |title=MNDOT: Hwy 149 High Bridge}} It reopened to traffic the afternoon of November 21, 2018.{{Cite web |url=http://www.startribune.com/st-paul-s-high-bridge-to-reopen-this-afternoon-mndot-says/501024322/ |title=Star Tribune: St. Paul's High Bridge reopens after being closed 15 months}}