Birkie bridge heads to Minneapolis for Super Bowl festivities

MINNEAPOLIS (KMSP) - Classic outdoor winter fun is on its way to Nicollet Mall for the Super Bowl.

Twelve semi trucks are delivering sections of the American Birkebeiner International Bridge from Hayward, Wisconsin to Minneapolis. This will be the first time the bridge has been moved outside of Hayward. On Monday, the first semi departed on its journey.

The American Birkebeiner International Bridge is almost 200 feet long and will be built on Nicollet Mall over 9th Street for the 10-day festival leading up to the Super Bowl. The bridge is used each year in the American Birkebeiner or "Birkie", which is North America's largest cross country ski race.

It will take 12 dump trucks of snow to cover the bridge. When it's ready, visitors to Nicollet Mall can watch cross country skiing, skijoring, tubing and fat tire bike racing on the bridge.

Official construction of the bridge is expected to start on Saturday.