Frederick Gottemoeller - Bridgescape LLC

For most of its history Hastings was the head of navigation on the Mississippi River. The wealth generated then is visible still in the large mansions along U.S. 61, the city's main north-south artery, and in the prominent red-orange brick courthouse that greets southbound travelers as they exit the bridge. When the US 61 bridge required replacement the Minnesota Department of Transportation engaged a Community Advisory Committee which set a wide range of goals for the project. Their ideas were incorporated into the project's Visual Quality Manual (VQM) which was part of the design-build Request for Proposal.

The winning design-builder met all of the requirements of the VQM, proposing for the main span a record-setting steel arch bridge with unbraced arch ribs. The arch color was selected by the advisory committee to emulate the brick courthouse. The town and the advisory committee are very happy with the bridge. They consider themselves its creator. The results prove that high aesthetic values can be achieved within a design-build process if the visual quality requirements are specific enough and made a part of the construction contract.