Project Details
One of our core capabilities is Lighting & Electrical Bridge work. We have worked on bridges that span throughout Minnesota and Wisconsin and know that they need to run smooth. We look to work smart and as a team when we approached the Franklin Avenue bridge project.
Exceeding Minimum Standards
Safety is our top priority. Our safety process begins with office and key field personnel training and continues with daily morning safety huddles, weekly job site safety inspections and regularly scheduled all-hands safety meetings in addition to job-site training events. Every aspect of our work is planned and coordinated to achieve the safest working environment.
Brief History of the Bridge
The Franklin Avenue Bridge, officially the F.W. Cappelen Memorial Bridge, carries Franklin Avenue over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota. It was designed by Frederick William Cappelen, assisted by Kristoffer Olsen Oustad. The reinforced concrete open spandrel arched structure was completed in 1923. The bridge’s overall length is 1054.7 feet (321.47 m), with a central span of 400 feet (122 m). It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 along with several other area bridges as part of a multiple-property submission. At the time of its completion, the bridge’s central span was the longest concrete arch in the world.
The bridge originally carried streetcars, which were removed in the 1940s. A major renovation in the early 1970s changed many of the ornamental details and widened a completely replaced deck. A bike lane was added in 2005. The bridge will be extensively rehabilitated from 2015-2016, including restoring some of the details lost in the 1970s reconstruction.
