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devil
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2002 7:00 pm Posts: 5056
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 Nuts And Bolts
As of 10am tomorrow (Friday, April 25th), the Lowry bridge will be closed for good. No longer will you be able to zoom across its rickety, see-through steel deck. Plans for a new, futuristic-looking bridge that will be totally out of place given the surroundings are in need of funding (don't you dare raise veinsplasher's taxes or he'll pitch a fit), but construction is supposed to begin in late 2009 and finish sometime around late 2011. That means if you use that bridge regularly you're going to have an irritating detour to deal with for the next, ohhh...three and a half years.
Share your fondest memories of the bridge. We shall miss it.
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Thu Apr 24, 2008 6:40 pm |
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thosquanta
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:52 pm Posts: 3442 Location: minneapolis
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my singer lives right next to it. so we'll be able to watch construction while we drink beers on the waterway.
it was only open this time for like 9 months anyways.
_________________ thosquanta: the band!
http://www.thosquanta.com
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Thu Apr 24, 2008 9:57 pm |
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laserbitch
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 1:40 am Posts: 718 Location: St Cloud, MN
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You think THAT is bad? Our MAIN FUCKING BRIDGE in StC here has been closed for at least a month, and will be closed until, supposedly, next fall. It's the same design at the 35W bridge, with the gusset plates showing stress fractures, and so now we get a whole new one.
This has been very annoying, even though I'd rather not fall into the Mississippi when the bridge collapses, either.
There are also plans to redo the University bridge by 2011, by widening it and whatnot, which will also be a PITA since I use that bridge to get to hwy 10 OR the east side from my house.
So fuck your puny Lowry bridge. Having the DeSoto bridge out is kinda like having 35W down. Sure, there are alternate routes, but our main flow of traffic is cut off.
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Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:21 pm |
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devil
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2002 7:00 pm Posts: 5056
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It goes beyond main arteries. This is about an odd piece of history. Yes, I'm sure having your bridge out sucks. But I've always had a soft spot in my heart for this strange little bridge. It's sort of like if Spoonbridge And Cherry suddenly went up in flames, except no one would really miss that stupid fucking thing. Yet people would pass by the hole and think, "Wow, I remember staring at that stupid fucking thing many times and thinking, 'why the fuck is this stupid thing even here?'"
This wasn't just a main bridge people were dependent upon. It was a rickety old novelty structure from the past that always freaked people the fuck out. And now it's gone.
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Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:28 pm |
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thosquanta
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:52 pm Posts: 3442 Location: minneapolis
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it sure was fun to drive across really fast-like in the winter.
_________________ thosquanta: the band!
http://www.thosquanta.com
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Thu Apr 24, 2008 11:33 pm |
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veinsplasher
Joined: Sun Jun 29, 2003 11:49 pm Posts: 3157
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 Re: Nuts And Bolts
devil wrote: (don't you dare raise veinsplasher's taxes or he'll pitch a fit)
You can raise my taxes right after you promise we stop providing tax dollars to North Dakota.
_________________ And over the ashes the stories are told Of witches and werewolves and Oak Island gold
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:13 am |
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JPaganel
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:54 pm Posts: 476
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 Re: Nuts And Bolts
veinsplasher wrote: devil wrote: (don't you dare raise veinsplasher's taxes or he'll pitch a fit) You can raise my taxes right after you promise we stop providing tax dollars to North Dakota. I don't mind ND so much, but the fact that we are giving money for police training to freaking TURKEY when the overnight coverage for the entire Northeast is 3 cruisers kinda pisses me off.
_________________ Squirrels make such angry drunks - (C) Petey
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 12:39 am |
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manna_panna
Joined: Mon Dec 13, 2004 7:47 pm Posts: 701 Location: the rotted glory of minneapolis suburbia
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I always loved the sound it made to drive over that bridge. Industrial and foreboding.
_________________ Art is life. But life is not art.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:09 am |
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Ethel
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 8:23 pm Posts: 791 Location: St. Paul
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Damn, I love that bridge, even though I hate driving over it.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:15 am |
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Nemphusi
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 7:00 pm Posts: 2380 Location: Ehr. well. Im not a local
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I'll always remember the time me and Danny went out there one night, and Danny was drinking a bit too much, well, I was probably drinking a bit too much, too, but I had better balance, and well ... No, wait, that's a bridge here in Wichita. Oh well. Still, great times. Deep riverbeds.
_________________ Mind crunching rage.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 7:29 am |
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skywayman
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 1981 7:00 pm Posts: 1377 Location: Minneapolis
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I want to ride my bike across it, but alas...
Apparently it got caught up in the bridge inspection fever and had a central concrete support that had shifted more than 12 inches and was expected to move more this summer.
As much as there is a lot of paranoia about bridges collapsing around the state because [insert partisan reason here], this one does seem like it was ready to party.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:49 am |
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Nemphusi
Joined: Sun Dec 01, 2002 7:00 pm Posts: 2380 Location: Ehr. well. Im not a local
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Oh that's right. You guys had the huge bridge collapse earlier in the year right?
_________________ Mind crunching rage.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 8:52 am |
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skywayman
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 1981 7:00 pm Posts: 1377 Location: Minneapolis
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 9:39 am |
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laserbitch
Joined: Tue Mar 30, 2004 1:40 am Posts: 718 Location: St Cloud, MN
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devil wrote: It goes beyond main arteries. This is about an odd piece of history. Yes, I'm sure having your bridge out sucks. But I've always had a soft spot in my heart for this strange little bridge. It's sort of like if Spoonbridge And Cherry suddenly went up in flames, except no one would really miss that stupid fucking thing. Yet people would pass by the hole and think, "Wow, I remember staring at that stupid fucking thing many times and thinking, 'why the fuck is this stupid thing even here?'"
This wasn't just a main bridge people were dependent upon. It was a rickety old novelty structure from the past that always freaked people the fuck out. And now it's gone.
Blah blah history. Our bridge has history, too! Of me being able to drive over it!
Actually, back when I lived at home, on Hwy 25, before it joins with Hwy 12, there was this awesome bridge, old style steel girders to "cover"... Real old-style... And I was very sad when it got torn down. But guess what, it was unstructurally sound! It got replaced with the kind of bridge you see everywhere else, bland, boring, functional.
It's the way of the future.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 10:24 am |
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thosquanta
Joined: Thu Jun 12, 2003 5:52 pm Posts: 3442 Location: minneapolis
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i dunno, i liked the seemingly hand-made wooden bridge over mirror lake (nice, deep glacial gorge) in lake delton, WI.
now THERES some character.
_________________ thosquanta: the band!
http://www.thosquanta.com
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:25 am |
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zom-zom
Joined: Sat Sep 07, 2002 7:00 pm Posts: 3269
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I work about two blocks away from it, haven't driven over it in years.
I really hated riding my motorcycle over that thing, it decided where you were going.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:46 am |
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JPaganel
Joined: Mon Nov 13, 2006 11:54 pm Posts: 476
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_________________ Squirrels make such angry drunks - (C) Petey
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:54 pm |
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alisgray
Joined: Tue Apr 20, 2004 9:21 pm Posts: 2036 Location: not on this site. contact me elsewhere.
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manna_panna wrote: I always loved the sound it made to drive over that bridge. Industrial and foreboding.
Me too.
and JP: yes. yes we are.
someone close to me told me that he resented paying taxes because they're used for road repair due to seasonal wear and tear. because he doesn't think he should be taxed on winter.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 1:58 pm |
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Frost
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Huh. I drove over that bridge yesterday afternoon. Didn't realize they were taking it down!
As a resident of NE Minneapolis, I have to rely on SOME bridge or another to get across the river. Lowry was a convenient one for me. Now I'll have to resort to Broadway, or the downtown bridges at Hennepin or Central. :(
It always felt like you were fighting the bridge to keep your vehicle straight when you drove over it, but somehow you didn't care because the hum of the deckplates was so endearing.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:31 pm |
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skywayman
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 1981 7:00 pm Posts: 1377 Location: Minneapolis
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The official detour will be 42nd.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 3:37 pm |
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rskm1
Joined: Mon Oct 28, 2002 7:00 pm Posts: 4917 Location: S St Paul
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I don't even know what bridge this is; the only steel-grid-deck bridge I can think of is the one crossing the Mississippi to LaCrosse,WI. It's cool that it never needs plowing, but it's kinda slippery ALL the time and does like to steer your car for ya.
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 4:49 pm |
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Frost
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 5:11 pm |
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Ravenlily
Joined: Wed Jan 18, 2006 8:47 pm Posts: 135 Location: St. Paul, MN
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my son calls it the wiggly jiggly bridge
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Fri Apr 25, 2008 11:11 pm |
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devil
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2002 7:00 pm Posts: 5056
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That's what my wife calls my peepee!
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Sat Apr 26, 2008 2:37 am |
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2fisted
Joined: Sun Sep 22, 2002 7:00 pm Posts: 3375 Location: ATBOG
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The bridge is very industrial/Goth imo. Hate to see it go, mby our city planners can move it closer to the Riverside area?
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Sat Apr 26, 2008 12:21 pm |
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Redghost
Joined: Mon Nov 25, 2002 7:00 pm Posts: 1814 Location: S. Minneapolis
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NE will have less crime while they're building a new bridge.
Ian's dad use to throw fire crackers off of that bridge. 
_________________ Gangsta goth
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Sat Apr 26, 2008 7:39 pm |
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skywayman
Joined: Fri Nov 20, 1981 7:00 pm Posts: 1377 Location: Minneapolis
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Redghost wrote: NE will have less crime while they're building a new bridge.
It's keeping me out!
Jerks.
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Sat Apr 26, 2008 7:53 pm |
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Ethel
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 8:23 pm Posts: 791 Location: St. Paul
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We can form our own elite strikeforce team on this side of the river.
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Mon Apr 28, 2008 6:46 am |
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Rockula!
Joined: Sun Sep 29, 2002 7:00 pm Posts: 3128 Location: The center of the universe
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devil wrote: That's what my wife calls my peepee!
And it keeps collapsing over and over
_________________ I may be an asshole, but I'm not a fucking asshole
R!
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Tue Apr 29, 2008 12:53 pm |
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