This sign is located at the Viewpoint at the north end of the Cook’s Chasm bridge.
Marker Name: Bridging the Gaps
Marker Text: Up and down the Oregon Coast, bridge builders have spanned the chasms and coves with remarkable feats of artistic engineering.
In the 1800s, travelers faced innumerable obstacles when trekking along the coast. The route crossed inlets, chasms, and rivers -- requiring determination and ingenuity of the engineers tasked with designing a coastal highway. To bridge the watery gaps, they incorporated some of the most innovative design techniques of the time.
The Oregon Department of Transportation has undertaken an effort to protect and restore some of the historic bridges through state-of-the-art preservation techniques. Those bridges that couldn’t be saved have been replaced by new bridges designed to honor the classic look of their predecessors.
The original Cook’s Chasm Bridge was completed in 1932. Seventy years of corrosion in this wet, salty environment took too heavy a toll, and the old bridge had to be replaced. The new bridge was completed in 2003.
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