Hastings Bridge

Founded in 1857 and located at the junction of the St. Croix and Mississippi Rivers, the town of Hastings, Minnesota, takes pride in its rich, historical past — and its bridges.

From 1895 to 1951, a unique Spiral Bridge spanned the Mississippi and looped through Hastings’ small downtown. That structure was replaced in 1951 by the Hastings High Bridge, a continuous steel through truss structure that served as the town’s icon for the next 50-plus years. But after the 2007 collapse of the I-35 bridge 30 miles upstream in St. Paul, the Minnesota Legislature passed funding to accelerate repair and/or replacement of fracture critical bridges. The Hastings High Bridge was advanced from a construction date of 2015 to a construction date of 2010.

The result is a new signature bridge — a $120 million structure designed by Parsons Transportation, with bridge architecture by Touchstone Architecture and Consulting. The longest free-standing tied-arch bridge in North America, it has a main span composed of arches, girders, beams, stringers, and roadway comprising four lanes of traffic plus a mixed-use pedestrian and bike path. At night, it is illuminated by iLight Plexineon White 1X fixtures that are in step with the quiet beauty of the environment and the soul of a community with small-town charm.