Whose view? From where? — September 2009

Congratulations to Debbie Hartmann and Ron Middlestadt who correctly guessed this months photo.

Debbie writes:

This looks a lot like the lock and dam area at the park in Hastings. I used to go for a walk here every single weekend when I lived in Cottage Grove. I would always see eagles flying overhead when I walked here.

Correct! This is the Hastings Dam or Lock and Dam #2, which controls the river level all the way upstream to the Ford Dam in St. Paul.

Given current river developments, the area is noteworthy for two reasons. First, one of the first hydrokinetic projects in the region was recently installed adjacent to the dam. This new technology utilizes small underwater turbines to produce electricity. Not much is known about the technologys impacts. The National Park Service and others are concerned about the potential impacts on fish and other wildlife, and think that a National Park is not the best place to test the technology.

Second, the bluffs behind the dam also tell a story. As an article in this issue of Mississippi Messages notes, a new bridge is to be installed just downriver of the dam for US 61. Advocates are concerned that the new bridge will dwarf its surroundings. Designs for the cable stay bridge option could allow the bridge to rise to nearly double the height of the bluffs shown behind the dam – 314 feet or 30 stories above river level.

About Whose view? From where?

Each month in this section, we feature a photo somewhere along the river corridor in the Twin Cities that is in some way significant or important or just plain scenic. Individuals may then e-mail us and identify the view and explain why they believe it is significant to the community or important to them personally. Well publish some of your responses in the next issue of Mississippi Messages, where we will also reveal the correct answer.

To submit your guess and response, e-mail Bob Spaulding, River Advocate, through our contact form. The respondent to provide the first correct identification of the view and hopefully some interesting thoughts about its significance will receive a valuable prize for their effort. All entries must be received by the first day of the following month for consideration.