The High Trestle Trail Bridge over the Des Moines River in Iowa paired with Mother of Pearl + Jim Lambie Canvas Sneakers.

Iowa stands in good stead vis-à-vis the new federal goal to significantly cut power plants’ carbon dioxide emissions by 2030; already, the Hawkeye State has curbed its carbon emissions by shifting from coal to wind power. To applaud Iowa’s leadership in renewable energy development, I present the High Trestle Trail Bridge, a stunning piece of pedestrian architecture that finds beauty in Iowa’s coal history. Forty-one angled steel beams frame the half-mile-long bridge, referencing the support cribs in coal mines. Hovering 13 stories above the Des Moines River Valley, the bridge is the centerpiece of a 25-mile trail following a former railroad bed across four counties. While these geo-jazzy slip-ons by Mother of Pearl + Jim Lambie might not carry me the full length of the trestle trail, they do carry on the angular aesthetic of the bridge architecture.