The City of Mankato, Minn., emerged as the owner of the Kern Bridge after competing against one other city and two counties.
Mankato was ultimately chosen by a steering committee selecting the city’s relocation and rehabilitation proposal.
In the wake of surpassing Fergus Falls, Sherburn County, and Watonwan County for ownership of the bridge, Mankato will receive federal funding entailing 80 percent of the cost to relocate and rehabilitate the historic bow-string arch bridge that traversed the Le Sueur River from 1873 to 2020 in Blue Earth County.
The Kern Bridge holds the distinction of being one of the state’s oldest bridges – made from wrought iron, serves as the only bow-string arch bridge in Minnesota and the longest of its type in the nation at 189 feet. The bridge was removed, dismantled, and loaded into sealed containers last winter.
Mankato seeks to place the Kern Bridge less than five miles downstream from the original site over the Blue Earth River, connecting Land of Memories Park to Sibley Park. The plan fulfills a need identified in the Minnesota River State Trail Master Plan, in addition to other local and regional trail plans.
“All the applicants certainly worked hard and presented proposals that would have provided a good home to this important piece of Minnesota’s transportation heritage,” Historian Katie Haun Schuring, who serves on the selection task force, said.