Closed Hwy 43 bridge featured on new Minnesota postage stamp

The Highway 43 bridge over the Mississippi River at Winona, Minn., became the latest symbol of Minnesota’s decaying infrastructure June 3 when the state Department of Transportation ordered it closed for at least six weeks due to possibly debilitating rust and corrosion. But the bridge was already a state symbol: Only 18 days before the shutdown, the United States Postal Service released a new stamp honoring Minnesota’s 150th birthday that prominently features the now-closed bridge.

MnDOT said inspectors discovered decay in the bridge’s gusset plates, including one that showed "some buckling" — akin to gusset plate "distortions" that triggered the March closure of the DeSoto Bridge over the Mississippi in St. Cloud. Gusset plate failure is a leading contender for causing last August’s collapse of the I-35W bridge in Minneapolis, which also crossed the Mississippi River.

On May 16, the new postage stamp showing the bridge was unveiled at a Statehood Week event in Winona. The next day, dignitaries (including Citizens’ Stamp Advisory Committee member Joan Mondale and former U.S. Vice President Walter Mondale) gathered under a tent at the State Capitol for a ceremony (video) celebrating the new USPS stamp that commemorates 150 years of Minnesota statehood.

Those who travel in the 11,600 vehicles that cross the span between Winona and Wisconsin each day may find it cheaper to buy a few new Minnesota stamps and conduct their business by mailing letters and packages rather than driving a half hour or more up or down river to the next nearest crossings.

But MnDOT’s new PR- and engineering-savvy commissioner, Tom Sorel, would be wise to choose other new postage stamps, such as those honoring journalist Eric Sevareid or film star Bette Davis, rather than one that depicts the state’s third Mississippi River bridge to close or collapse during the last 10 months.

Richard Hamilton Smith, a Park Rapids, Minn., photographer, took the photo on the stamp, which joins the U.S. Mint’s commemorative quarters for New Hampshire and Maryland in featuring landmarks that soon afterward meet with trouble or worse: The Maryland Statehouse was struck by lightning, and New Hampshire’s "Old Man on the Mountain" rock formation collapsed.