Quite the bridge! This bridge is one of six vertical-lift bridges that were built in Minnesota and Wisconsin before World War II. The Stillwater Bridge opened in Juy 1931. There are many informative monuments around the bridge entrance on the Minnesota side of the St. Croix that has lots of information about this bridge and the building of it.
The Stillwater Lift Bridge carries State Highway 36 over the St. Croix River between Stillwater, Washington County, Minnesota, and Houlton, Wisconsin. Constructed in 1931, the 10-span bridge includes six steel Parker through truss spans, one movable span of the type commonly known as a “Waddell and Harrington vertical lift,” and three concrete slab approach spans. It was originally developed by renowned movable bridge engineer J.A.L. Waddell in 1892 and subsequently refined in partnership with John Lyle Harrington, also an engineer. The firm of Waddell and Harrington designed many varieties of movable bridges in the early twentieth century. The lift span is raised and lowered by steel cables passing over sheaths at the top of steel towers mounted on the span's piers. To ensure easy movement, the span is counterweighted by concrete blocks that travel up and down within the tower framework. The bridge has a functional and symbolic connection with downtown Stillwater, which is represented in the bridge concourse, located at the west approach. This feature includes Classical Revival details, including the open balustrade, light standards, and other concrete elements.
To earn credit for this virtual cache you must take a photo of you or an object in your hand with the bridge in the background.
Please leave the following text at the bottom of the page, so cache finders understand the Virtual Rewards 3.0 project.
Virtual Rewards 3.0 - 2022-2023
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between March 1, 2022 and March 1, 2023. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 3.0 on the Geocaching Blog.