Former Rock Island:

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/477491.html

"Repairs would cost more than $1 million"

I bet they won't get a replacement for that much.

Yes, a million today is not much. My guess is that the person that said that probably did not have a real idea what it might cost and grabbed the figure out of the air. Because of river traffic, it could not be just welded in place for a bike path, etc., and would have to remain moveable, which would probably be pretty expensive to repair. It would be interesting to know the pricetag on what similar swing bridge repairs cost.

Yes in progressive Minnesota, these old artifacts left over from the industrial revolution are seen as blemishes.

While I regret to see the bridge die. I did drive over it once in the mid 90's and found it rather harrowing and drove it only once. It was on par with the old Lake Street bridge that was replaced in about 1990.

I doubt that 1 millon would cover the engineering to scope the repairs.

On a similar note is the old CGW lift span in downtown St. Paul still in service?

Paul

The lift bridge is in service in downtown, I work near it and regularly see UP and CP trains use the span over the lunch hour...

I think the repair cost is just a polite excuse. Note the bridge is privately owned. It is likely issues such as liability, insurance, and the human cost of collecting the toll made the venture unprofitable as costs rose.