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, both of whom were among four important Norwegian-American engineers working in the region at the time. 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.
The current bridge replaces one built in 1889 and its pilings and foundation can still be seen to the south of the current bridge. During planning of this original bridge there was consideration and debate concerning its possible interference with river navigation.
In the late 1990s, there was an easy way to climb the arches under the bridge and walk along a path that spanned the entire way across the river. Vagrants, graffiti artists, and locals would frequent this area at all times of the day.
Famous quotes containing the words franklin, avenue and/or bridge:
“At twenty years of age, the will reigns; at thirty, the wit; and at forty, the judgment.”
—Benjamin Franklin (1706–1790)
“Extemporaneous speaking should be practised and cultivated. It is the lawyer’s avenue to the public.... And yet there is not a more fatal error to young lawyers than relying too much on speechmaking. If any one, upon his rare powers of speaking, shall claim an exemption from the drudgery of the law, his case is a failure in advance.”
—Abraham Lincoln (1809–1865)
“I see four nuns
who sit like a bridge club,
their faces poked out
from under their habits,”
—Anne Sexton (1928–1974)