Louisiana Avenue is a busy north and south connector street through Saint Louis Park, Minnesota. It crosses the Minnehaha Creek towards the south end of its three and one-third mile length just north of its intersection with Excelsior Boulevard. This area was historically a large wetland. In fact, it was flooded in the late 1800s by the dam built just downstream at the site of the Globe Mill. The area was drained around the turn of the 20th century. Since then, the area has been filled in as building sites for both light industrial and multi-unit housing construction. A large chunk of the wetlands were filled in for the Methodist Hospital. Louisiana Avenue is built on this fill, and it appears to be located on dry land, other than where it crosses the Minnehaha Creek.

The photo above is a view looking northbound down the length of the bridge deck from the edge of the northbound traffic lanes. The photo below is a view looking southeast towards the upstream west face of the Louisiana Avenue Bridge from a canoe landing on the north bank of the creek. Yes, there is a bridge hidden behind the trees and brush

These two photos are views of the downstream east face of the Louisiana Avenue Bridge. The photo below is from the edge of the north bank of the creek near the bridge. The photo below is a wider view from about 150 feet east of the structure, one of the few spots in this swampy area that could support my weight.

The photo above is looking north down the length of the bridge deck from the center median between the traffic lanes. The photo below is looking northwest across the bridge deck. The creek crosses the road at a 45 degree angle, resulting in the bridge deck being built at an angle.

The photo above is looking northeast across the bridge deck from near the southwest corner of the structure. While the bridge deck starts 25 feet north of us on this side of the street, we are even with the start of the bridge deck on the far side of the road. The photo below is looking north along the sidewalk on the east side of the bridge.