By Nick Ferraro
The St. Paul Pioneer Press
ST. PAUL, Minn. — Fire crews this afternoon are battling a blaze that has engulfed a section of the former Rock Island Swing Bridge.
The bridge, which once spanned the Mississippi River between Inver Grove Heights and St. Paul Park, was the largest swing bridge in the country when it was built in 1895. And though it had fallen into disrepair, officials hoped to save a portion of it, renovating it to become part of the Dakota County community’s park system.
The blaze began just before 2 p.m. while crews were welding underneath a section of original bridge that was being refurbished, officials said at the scene. The span is made of wood, asphalt and steel.
Among the crews battling the blaze this afternoon were three fire boats on the river.
The bridge was set to reopen Saturday after 18 months of preservation efforts. But recent flooding set back the project, delaying the opening until next spring.
The double-decker bridge once carried horse-drawn wagons and later automobiles on the lower deck and trains on the upper deck. The Rock Island Railroad operated it as a toll bridge until 1938, when the Legislature made it free to cross.
The railroad went bankrupt and closed the bridge in 1980. A few years later, the most recent owner took over operations and reopened it as a toll bridge, charging 60 cents for a one-way trip.
The poor condition of the bridge forced its closure to vehicles in 1999.
After a portion on the St. Paul Park side collapsed in November 2008, the Washington County Board approved demolition.
But Inver Grove Heights officials and other supporters rallied to save the western end of the bridge and restore it for public use.
Two days before demolition, Gov. Tim Pawlenty gave the Dakota County side of the bridge a two-year reprieve when he signed the state’s bonding bill, which included the moratorium that Rep. Joe Atkins, DFL-Inver Grove Heights, and Sen. Jim Metzen, DFL-South St. Paul, introduced.
The moratorium was lifted in March, allowing preservation work to begin.
Inver Grove Heights, which took ownership of the tax-forfeited property in October 2009, secured county, federal stimulus and Minnesota Historical Society funds for the project, which is expected to cost $2.4 million.
Copyright 2010 St. Paul Pioneer Press
All Rights Reserved