The river crosses under the highway at an angle, so the bridge is built at this same angle. The result is a deck that is shaped like a rhombus or diamond rather than a square. The bridge is a very modern prestressed concrete girder bridge that is very typical of nearly all newer bridges being built in Minnesota, at least of the shorter and more moderate lengths. Like other prestressed concrete girder bridges in the area, this one is built strictly for function, and has no decorative elements.
CSAH-4 has recently been named the Rudy Perpich Memorial Drive, after Minnesota's longest serving governor. Perpich served non-consecutive terms from 1976 to 1991. He was famous for coming up with ideas that were sometimes interesting, and sometimes a bit outlandish. The media liked to refer to Perpich as ‘Governor Goofy’, perhaps not realizing that things would get truly bizarre 8 years later when pro-wrestler Jesse ‘The Body’ Ventura became governor. The highlight of Perpich's tenure was hosting Soviet Premier Mikhail Gorbachev in his visit to the Twin Cities in 1990.
The photo above is looking northwest down the center of the bridge deck. The angle shape of the bridge is readily apparent where the blacktop meets the concrete approach.
