Minn. county repairing bridge

DULUTH, Minn. — The St. Louis County Board on Tuesday approved spending up to $200,000 from an emergency fund to make emergency repairs to the County Highway 7 bridge over the Cloquet River in Industrial Township just west of Duluth.

The broken bridge has caused problems for people who use Highway 7 — Industrial Road — to get into and out of Duluth to head up toward Culver, Alborn, Meadowlands and the Iron Range.

The money will offer an immediate fix within 60 to 90 days. The county then hopes to get state money to permanently replace the bridge sometime over the next two years because the bridge was nearing the end of its customary lifespan.

The bridge, which carries about 800 vehicles per day, was damaged to the point of being unsafe on Jan. 15 when one of the county’s vehicles smashed into the overhead supports. A county highway department truck was carrying a backhoe and the backhoe’s boom hit the steel support. The backhoe was a total loss.

No one was hurt but the bridge has been closed since, forcing a bothersome detour. Engineers said the temporary fix will allow the bridge to safely support traffic until a permanent replacement can be built. County officials also noted the temporary fix of the existing bridge also will prevent a detour during construction of the new bridge.

The Duluth (Minn.) News

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