Image courtesy MNDoT

The Minnesota Department of Transportation has finished removing 1920s-era bridge on old Highway 19 over Sulphur Lake between Morton and Redwood Falls. The bridge, closed to traffic since 2010, was removed for the public’s safety.

The bridge removal project started in Oct. 2021 and continued into December. The project was suspended through the winter and resumed this year. The bridge was dismantled and the site restored at a cost of $730,000, and Redstone Construction, LLC, was the contractor.

The bridge, officially called the Sulphur Lake Bridge, was built in 1927 to carry Highway 19/71 across Sulphur Lake in rural Honner Township, in Redwood County. Since September 2010, the bridge has been closed to traffic but continued to carry pedestrians, bicycles, motorcycles, ATVs, and snowmobiles.

The 169-foot bridge is significant for its association with the Minnesota Highway Department’s bridge building and highway improvement efforts in the 1920s, as well as being a representative example of the Camelback through truss, an unusual type in Minnesota.