Cache
is actually at the listed coordinates. The mystery lies in the
bridge itself.
Off Midway Rd. in Pike Lake, Minnesota Bridge No. 92101 traverses
the mighty span from the St. Louis County public works garage to a
nondescript island in a storm water retaining pond. Originally
built in 1905, the iron truss bridge was placed over the Pike River
near Embarrass in 1944 and recently relocated to Pike Lake.
The bridge was built by the A.Y Bayne Company, and is an rare
surviving example of a Ridge-connected Low Warren truss.
A.Y. Bayne also created the
Third Street Bridge over the
Cannon River, known for the unusual Pennsylvania Through
Truss (also called the Petit Truss), with subdivided
panels and a polygonal upper chord, as well as the
Dump Road Bridge, an
excellent example of a pin-connected Pratt Through Truss
resting on a substructure of paired concrete-filled tubular
steel piers.
The bridge achieved brief fame as Duluth's own "Bridge to Nowhere"
in the recent November 2008 election: "Should public dollars be
spent to preserve a historical relic?" The election is over, but in
a time where we are encouraged to melt down family jewelry because
gold is up, and auction off public property to pay off bad
decisions, it is worth reflecting as you seek the cache - "What is
worth saving? When do we let things go?"
Minnesota Bridge #92101, at 103, came well before us, and will no
doubt outlast us. It sits, in silence, over the retention pond, and
shelters a small, magnetic box.
Sources: Duluth News-Tribune 10.30.08, MN
Hist. Soc.
Special Logging Requirement: It’s a mystery as to where this
bridge will go next – as a special logging requirement, please help
the county by suggesting a creative location or use for the bridge.
Have fun, be creative, be family-friendly – I will delete any “I’ll
tell you what they can do with that bridge…” kind of logs.
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