West River Parkway and the Mississippi River near downtown Minneapolis.

Downtown Minneapolis as seen from below the Stone Arch Bridge.

The Zen-Noh Grain Corporation export facility in Convent, Louisiana, operates along the Mississippi River between Baton Rouge and New Orleans. The terminal handles millions of tons of corn, soybeans, and other grains each year, transferring them from rail and barge to ocean-going vessels for global shipment. At night, the towering conveyor systems and loading arms glow under industrial lights, reflecting the region’s central role in U.S. agricultural exports.

Illuminated under floodlights, the massive concrete grain silos of the Zen-Noh Grain Corporation terminal rise over the Mississippi River in Convent, Louisiana. Operated by a U.S. subsidiary of Japan’s Zen-Noh agricultural cooperative, this export facility plays a critical role in shipping Midwestern grain to international markets. The illuminated conveyors and loading structures highlight the region’s industrial link between river transport and global food supply chains.

An aerial view captures the excavation shaft for a massive water main tunnel beneath the Mississippi River. The reinforced concrete cylinder serves as the launch point for a tunnel boring machine, visible nearby, which will cut through layers of limestone and shale to create a new conduit linking the city’s water systems. The project represents a critical upgrade to regional infrastructure, designed to improve reliability and resilience while accommodating future demand across Minneapolis and St. Paul.

Bridges linking the University of Minnesota East and West banks in Minneapolis. Evening light reflects off campus buildings, including the Weisman Art Museum and the Phillips-Wangensteen Building.

The University of Minnesota’s Southeast Steam Plant sits along the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, supplying heat and power to the campus and nearby medical facilities. Its red-brick structures and tall orange exhaust stacks stand below the university’s historic engineering buildings.

The Southeast Steam Plant, with its four iconic smokestacks, rises over the Mississippi River near the University of Minnesota’s East Bank campus. Once a coal-fired power station, the facility has been adapted into a cleaner-burning natural gas plant, continuing its role as a landmark in Minneapolis’s industrial skyline.

The Mississippi River in South St. Paul.

The maroon and gold Washington Avenue Bridge spans the Mississippi River, linking the University of Minnesota’s East and West Bank campuses. Seen from below, the bridge’s bold steel trusses frame the calm river and limestone bluffs, while the university’s West Bank buildings rise in the background. The bridge, completed in 1965, carries both vehicular and pedestrian traffic—including the campus’s light rail line—and serves as one of the most recognizable landmarks connecting the university’s two halves across the river.

Bruininks Hall, with its curved glass facade and modernist profile, stands prominently on the bluffs of the Mississippi River at the University of Minnesota’s East Bank campus. The building, named after former university president Robert Bruininks, houses student services and administrative offices while serving as a visual landmark along the riverfront. The structure’s sleek transparency contrasts with the limestone layers of the bluff below, emphasizing the union between natural geology and contemporary academic architecture that defines much of the university’s riverfront setting.

A -20F day during the Polar Vortex. Looking out under the Third Avenue Bridge near downtown Minneapolis.

Downtown Minneapolis skyline as seen from the North on the Mississippi River.

Patrick Gannaway docked on the Mississippi River in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Downtown Minneapolis Skyline with I35W bridge crossing the Mississippi River.

A wooden freight train bridge over the Mississippi River in Minneapolis.

Lowry Bridge as seen from an island on the Mississippi River in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

A sign reading "No Trespassing, US Government Property" in St. Paul, Minnesota.

Downtown Minneapolis as seen from Upper Harbor Terminal in North Minneapolis. Riverside Generating Station on the left.

Wabasha Street Bridge in St. Paul, Minnesota.