Blackberry Bridge
Mississippi River Highway Crossing
Near Blackberry, MN

Blackberry Bridge

• Structure ID: NBI 31516
• Location: River Mile 1171.7
• River Elevation: 1,241 Feet
• County: Itasca
• Highway: Itasca County Highway 441
• Daily Traffic Count: 820 (2001)
• Bridge Type: Concrete Girder
• Bridge Length: 295 Feet, 72 Feet
• Bridge Width: 36 Feet, 2 Lanes
• Height Above Water: 22 Feet
• Date Built: 1978
The Blackberry Bridge is one of the 13 concrete girder bridges of the 16 highway bridges between and including Brainerd to Grand Rapids. This one is located in a very scenic area, as are all the bridges in this section of the Mississippi River. For travelers heading south, this is the last Mississippi River crossing before a stretch of about 50 miles of wilderness where there are no main highways, and even the Great River Road is mostly unpaved.

The bridge itself is a very typical concrete girder bridge. It has three sets of piers. The piers use the tubular steel pilings construction. Each pier has a slanted pile at each end to add side to side stability. The center pier has two slanted piles on each end, set at angles to each other. This gives the pier more stability the long way.

This bridge replaced a 1927 era bridge that was located on a different highway alignment. The big clue to the location of the old bridge is a side street called "Old Bridge Road".


Blackberry Bridge
Blackberry Bridge
Blackberry Bridge
Blackberry Bridge

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Photo and text by John A. Weeks III, Copyright © 2006, all rights reserved.
For further information, contact: john@johnweeks.com