The Minnesota Slip Bridge - the blue pedestrian bridge linking Canal Park to the Duluth Entertainment Convention Center - is out of service after suffering mechanical problems, the city of Duluth reported Wednesday.
High winds caused a bridge cable to uncoil from its spool, and the bridge will remain in the up position until repairs are made. A timeline for the repairs was not immediately available.
The city had reported Tuesday that the bridge was going to be pinned in the up position because of strong southwest winds that "tend to cause inadvertent lifting of the panels and can create problems with the cable system that lifts the bridge."
The bridge is lifted as needed to provide marine access to the slip for charter fishing boats and the Vista Fleet tour boats that dock there; when it's down, it offers the most direct route between the DECC and Canal Park. Last year, the bridge was raised and lowered 4,564 times.
But the bridge has been plagued by malfunctions since it was built in 1991. It broke down immediately after its grand opening, and has been closed numerous times since.
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Earlier this year, Duluth Mayor Emily Larson pledged to take the steps needed to make the bridge work properly and consistently.
"We are no longer going to study it. We are no longer going to talk about plans to study it. We actually have a plan to fix this bridge," she said at a news conference in May.
The city has contracted with an engineering firm to design a retrofit for the bridge's machinery. The design work is slated to be completed later this year, with the retrofit possibly taking place this winter, the city reported Wednesday.
