Minnesota Slip Bridge (Pedestrian) Duluth, MN

Project Description:
Krech Ojard & Associates staff were the principal engineers and designers of this highly ornate and unique counter-weighted double drawbridge. A pedestrian bridge, built along the Lakewalk in Duluth, MN, designed to lift and provide access to a ship/boating slip. When down, this bridge provides main passage from the busy Canal Park area and Lakewalk to Duluth's main tourism facilities, including the DECC, Aquarium, Omnimax, Theatre and the Bayfront Pavilion and local parks. This bridge, along with the aerial lift bridge also in Duluth's Canal Park area, have given Duluth's port a unique and technically functional charm among other traditional industrial ports along the Great Lakes. The metal formed and welded fish structures guarding the entrances, wood decking and blue color soften the mechanical prowess of this pedestrian bridge.

Received National Recognition:
A pedestrian bridge built along the Lakewalk in Duluth, MN, was named the best short span design in a national competition. Krech Ojard received the Gold Award from the James F. Lincoln Arc Welding Foundation, which sponsored an excellence in bridge design competition with the American Institute of Steel Construction and other national steel and fabrication organizations.

This bridge was named as the 1991 Minnesota Engineering Project of the Year and was awarded the 1992 Gold Award for Excellence in the Design and Construction of Arc Welded Short Span Bridges sponsored at the National Bridge Conference.