the Mississippi River cruise (Lock and Dam No.1, St Anthony Falls, & the collapsed bridge)

At first we wanted to cruise around Lake Minnetonka. It turned out that there is no public cruise service on those lakes. So we changed our plan and took a cruise on Mississippi River starting from the Boom Island.

our boat---Minneapolis Queen

A few minutes after our boat sailed off upstream, an old lady tripped over the door barrier. I don't know how serious her injury was, but we had to return to the harbor and waited until the ambulance came to pick her up. Then the boat headed downstream to visit the Lock and Dam No. 1, where the original St Anthony Falls was. St Anthony Falls was the was "the only natural major waterfall on the Upper Mississippi River" (Wikipedia).

one of the major dams making up St Anthony Falls as part of the Upper Mississippi River 9-Foot Navigation Project. This dam is also called Ford Dam since it is owned by Ford Motor Company.

Our boat entered the navigation channel. Before these locks and dams were built, St Anthony Falls was the upper limit of navigation on the Mississippi River.

They closed the gate and the water level started to decrease.

The water was drained pretty fast, but we could barely feel anything.

On the other side of the channel, there is this gate.

It can be opened after the water level is lower than its edges.

After it is fully opened, the ships can go further downstream. The whole process was reversed afterwards for our boat to go back to the harbor. It was quite impressive.

Downstream of the Lock & Dam No. 1 we could see the part of I-35W bridge which collapsed On August 2, 2007. To assist the rescue, the water level of Mississippi was lowered by 2 feet dy adjusting those locks and dams. (The I-35 was actually the highway we had to take most of the time during our trip there. )

Here is an aerial view of the Lock & Dam No. 1 from Wiki so that you can have a better idea.