Grand Avenue Bridge

The first bridge constructed over the Chippewa River in Eau Claire was completed in 1869 on Grand Avenue (known as Kelsey Street until 1899). The original structure was a drawbridge with the capacity to rotate one section to accommodate steamboats that plied the river during the early years of the city. It contained 500,000 board feet of lumber and 20 tons of iron, costing $34,600. Although the bridge stood 28 feet above the low water mark, the flood of June 1880 proved to be too much, and it was washed away.

The city began to rebuild the bridge immediately, finishing the project by the end of the year [need source] The new bridge 

This structure lasted as one of Eau Claire’s most used bridges until 1972 when it was declared unsafe and closed to vehicles. A few years later, in 1979, the city began converting the structure to facilitate pedestrian traffic, a project that was completed by June 1980. The Grand Avenue Bridge became one of Eau Claire’s handful of footbridges, connecting the city’s main downtown areas along the Chippewa River before the confluence of the rivers.

Today Eau Claire boasts numerous bridges over its rivers, but the area’s history of facilitating traffic over the Chippewa and Eau Claire Rivers extends over a century into the past. The local community in Eau Claire utilizes the numerous bridges around the city, but the long history of the bridges in the downtown area provide historical and contemporary context for how the people of Eau Claire explore the rivers. These bridges offer symbolism and function as the tools by which Eau Claire residents connect to each other and the city by exploring the networks of passages throughout Eau Claire.

• Blakeley, Brian L.. A History of Eau Claire, Wisconsin. Volume Vol. I: The Lumbering Era. Eau Claire, WI. Chippewa Valley Museum Press, 2017.
• Mell, Doug. "City completing plans for pedestrian bridge." Eau Claire Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, Wis.) March 3rd 1979. , Saturday Mornin' sec, 2.
• "New walk bridge opening Friday." Eau Claire Leader-Telegram (Eau Claire, Wis.) June 26th 1980. 5A.
• Paulus, Mike. Grand Little Bridge some things you may not think about when crossing the river, VolumeOne. April 7th 2017. Accessed August 4th 2020. https://volumeone.org/articles/2017/04/07/9813-grand-little-bridge#:~:text=Locals%20built%20the%20first%20Grand,bridge%20across%20the%20Chippewa%20River..
• Postcard: Grand Avenue Bridge, Eau Claire, Wis., Wisconsin Historical Society. Accessed August 4th 2020. https://www.wisconsinhistory.org/Records/Image/IM113033.
• Research and Photo Library, Chippewa Valley Museum. Accessed August 4th 2020. https://www.cvmuseum.com/learn-teach/research-photo-library/.
• "Water: Eau Claire Gets an Overdose." Eau Claire News (Eau Claire, Wis.) June 19th 1880.3.