Denis P. Gardner

With his big, glossy, black-and-white photo book, Wood, Concrete, Stone, and Steel, historian Denis P. Gardner documents the impressive history of bridges in Minnesota's history. Long before frustrated, sedan-bound commuters inched along uninspired, identical highway overpasses, bridges were used to test new technology, promote travel, and expand industrial growth in both rural and urban parts of Minnesota. Gardner uses historic photos to show bridges of different architectural styles and construction materials, and how they advanced with time from rather crude utilitarian ways to cross rivers, to feats of engineering allowing easy transit throughout the region. Through the photos and Gardner's words, the book fluidly demonstrates bridge technology's march toward perfecting the craft of conquering natural elements and allowing people and goods to travel relatively easily. It also explores design failures, and the effect of broken and collapsed bridges on future architecture. When thumbing through this book, readers will certainly recognize some of the bridges featured. What they probably will not recognize are the bridges' rich history.
Mon., June 9, 7:30 p.m., 2008