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Minnesota Slip Bridge in Canal Park to Get Improvements Starting March 20

[Duluth, MN] – The City of Duluth has been working since last year with its consultant engineer, LHB Corp, on a retrofit design to improve operations of the Minnesota Slip Bridge in Canal Park, also known as the blue pedestrian bridge.

The City’s consultant engineer helped design new custom manufactured parts for the 26-year-old bridge which has been riddled with repairs and closures since it first opened. Many of the custom manufactured parts have been machined and are ready for installation by Lakehead Constructors. The project will replace the existing spool and cable system with a rack and pinion system. The new rack and pinion system will operate much more reliably than the existing system.

Construction operations are scheduled to commence on March 20, 2017 and are expected to be complete by the first week of June. The Bridge will be closed again later in the fall to receive a new shade of blue paint.  

During the month of May, the bridge will be pinned up to allow for marine traffic in and out of the slip, but the bridge will remain closed to pedestrians. Pedestrian traffic will be rerouted around Lake Avenue onto Railroad Street, then Harbor Drive to access the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center.  

At the conclusion of this project, the public will enjoy a much more reliable and aesthetically pleasing bridge capable of operating in almost any weather.

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