The Dartmouth Bridge is a steel girder bridge that spans the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 in Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis, Minnesota

Minneapolis , nicknamed "City of Lakes" and the "Mill City," is the county seat of Hennepin County, the largest city in the U.S. state of Minnesota, and the 48th largest in the United States...

, between the Cedar-Riverside area

Cedar-Riverside, Minneapolis

The Cedar-Riverside, also referred to as the West Bank, is a neighborhood within Minneapolis, Minnesota. The boundaries of the neighborhood are the Mississippi River to the north and east, Interstate 94 to the south, and Hiawatha Avenue and Interstate 35W to the west...

 and the University of Minnesota

University of Minnesota

The University of Minnesota, Twin Cities is a public research university located in Minneapolis and St. Paul, Minnesota, United States. It is the oldest and largest part of the University of Minnesota system and has the fourth-largest main campus student body in the United States, with 52,557...

 campus area. It was built in 1964 and was designed by Parsons Brinckerhoff

Parsons Brinckerhoff

Parsons Brinckerhoff is a professional services firm with 14,000 employees in 150 offices providing construction and operation management, planning, design, engineering, program management, strategic consulting, environmental and sustainability services for clients and communities in the Americas,...

, Quade and Douglas.

The original span was an uninspired girder bridge

Girder bridge

A girder bridge, in general, is a bridge built of girders placed on bridge abutments and foundation piers. In turn, a bridge deck is built on top of the girders in order to carry traffic. There are several different subtypes of girder bridges:...

 design when compared to other Mississippi River bridges in the vicinity. However, the bridge carries more vehicles than any other bridge in the state (167,000 vehicles daily), on Interstate 94

Interstate 94

Interstate 94 is the northernmost east–west Interstate Highway, connecting the Great Lakes and Intermountain regions of the United States. I-94's western terminus is in Billings, Montana at a junction with Interstate 90; its eastern terminus is the U.S...

 between downtown Minneapolis and Saint Paul

Saint Paul, Minnesota

Saint Paul is the capital and second-most populous city of the U.S. state of Minnesota. The city lies mostly on the east bank of the Mississippi River in the area surrounding its point of confluence with the Minnesota River, and adjoins Minneapolis, the state's largest city...

. The 125 feet (38.1 m) long, 148-ton box girders were fabricated in Gary, Indiana

Gary, Indiana

Gary is a city in Lake County, Indiana, United States. The city is in the southeastern portion of the Chicago metropolitan area and is 25 miles from downtown Chicago. The population is 80,294 at the 2010 census, making it the seventh-largest city in the state. It borders Lake Michigan and is known...

 and transported up the Mississippi River by barge in October 1963.

The original span was completely demolished and rebuilt in the mid-1990s. The current span uses a steel I-beam construction supported by two bridge piers. As of early August 2007, the bridge carried four lanes of traffic in each direction. One of these lanes on each side is used for an entrance/exit lane for Huron Boulevard (East Bank) and Riverside Avenue (West Bank). Following the I-35W Mississippi River bridge collapse, through traffic was detoured along a three mile (5 km) stretch of I-94 including this bridge before turning north on Minnesota State Highway 280

Minnesota State Highway 280

Minnesota State Highway 280 is a highway in the Twin Cities region of Minnesota, which runs from its interchange with Interstate 94 in Saint Paul and continues north to its interchange with Interstate 35W in Roseville...

. To support the extra traffic volume, the deck surface was repainted to temporarily carry five lanes in each direction including the auxiliary lanes. Due to favorable response, the additional lane was made permanent and currently remains in use.