Drawdown Panorama

On February 20, 2008, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers lowered the quarter-mile long reservoir between the Upper and Lower St. Anthony Falls Locks and Dams. They did so to inspect one of the two flood control tunnels for the Bassett Creek watershed. One of the outlets flows into the reservoir between the locks and dams.

The most prominent feature of the panorama is the Stone Arch Bridge. Built in 1883, it was designed for railroad traffic but is now a popular bicycle/pedestrian and trolley route connecting downtown Minneapolis with neighborhoods on the east side of the river. Panning clockwise from the Stone Arch Bridge is a red brick building that houses the steam plant for the University of Minnesota. In front of that station are the remains of the an old 10^th Ave. bridge abutment. Continuing to pan clockwise, and far downstream past the people standing on the causeway is Lower St. Anthony Falls Lock and Dam. Just a bit further downstream are construction cranes being used to rebuild the 35E bridge. The river channel on the right of the causeway is the outlet from Upper St. Anthony Falls Lock. The cylindrical objects with yellow markings on them are navigation guides to ensure the barges passing out of the lock don’t go off course and into the bank. The tall arches along the bank are supports for electrical power lines, which carry converted water power.

Looking upstream, the dark blue building with a yellow rectangular structure on the side becomes visible; this is the new Guthrie Theater. Next to it, the Pillsbury Mill, Mill City Museum, and on the riverbank itself, Mill Ruins Park. The red, steel truss segment of the Stone Arch Bridge was constructed to make river navigation possible. Barges and tugs routinely pass through here in summer. Looking through the arches of the bridge is St. Anthony Falls itself.