Third Avenue Bridge and the Gold Medal Flour Sign Over the Mississippi

The Third Avenue Bridge, completed in 1918, carries traffic across the Mississippi River just downstream from Saint Anthony Falls. Designed by engineer Kristoffer Olsen Oustad, it's built as a concrete arch structure with a slight curve along its span, a design chosen to fit the site's geology. The bridge connects downtown Minneapolis to the university and riverfront neighborhoods to the east. Just below it, the Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam helps vessels navigate the drop created by the falls, part of a lock-and-dam system built in the 20th century to keep the river passable through the city. The Gold Medal Flour sign, mounted above the old Washburn-Crosby mill site in 1908, remains one of the longest-running landmarks on the Minneapolis skyline.

Photo taken in March 2019.