Stone Arch Bridge - Minneapolis, MN - Stone Bridges on Waymarking.com

From the Minnesota Historical Society website:

Railroad Properties: Stone Arch Bridge (in the St. Anthony Falls Historic District)

Location: Mississippi River at the Falls of St. Anthony, Minneapolis, Hennepin County
Built: 1881-83
Engineer: Col. Charles C. Smith
Listed on NRHP: March 11, 1971

Gracefully spanning the Mississippi River in downtown Minneapolis, the Stone Arch Bridge serves as a key link in the St. Anthony Falls Heritage Trail, connecting historic buildings and archaeological sites on both sides of the river. It is the oldest mainline railroad bridge in the Northwest and the only stone arch bridge across the Mississippi.

The Stone Arch Bridge resulted from a partnership between the City of Minneapolis and railroad magnate James J. Hill to bring passenger traffic from St. Paul directly into the city’s downtown business district. Hill originally wanted an iron bridge crossing the Mississippi above the Falls of St. Anthony at Nicollet Island. Bridge engineer Col. Charles C. Smith realized, however, that such a design would create a bottleneck on the river and could destabilize the eroding sandstone beneath the falls.

Built of more than 100,000 tons of stone – granite from Sauk Rapids, Minn.; marble from Bridgeport, Wis.; magnesium limestone from Mankato, Minn., and Stone City, Iowa, as well as limestone quarried on the spot – the bridge carried two sets of railroad tracks. The 2,100-foot curving span originally had 23 arches, ranging from 40 to 100 feet wide. In 1962 two arches were removed and a steel truss bridge inserted into the curve to accommodate commercial barges. The last train crossed the bridge in 1978; since then it has been converted to pedestrian traffic.

A more detailed history of this beautiful bridge is available on the Minneapolis Riverfront District website.