Willamette River (Oregon City) Bridge (No. 357) - Oregon City, Oregon
Posted by: 
BruceS
N 45° 21.496 W 122° 36.578
10T E 530574 N 5022824
Historic steel arch bridge spanning the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon.
Waymark Code: WM641Z
Location: Oregon, United States
Date Posted: 03/29/2009
Views: 12
The Oregon City Bridge is a steel arch bridge spanning the Willamette River between Oregon City and West Linn, Oregon, United States. It was built and is owned by the Oregon Department of Transportation as part of Oregon Route 43 and is the second southernmost Willamette bridge in the Portland metropolitan area, after the Boone Bridge in Wilsonville.
The bridge is 745 ft (227 m) in length and 28 ft (8½ m) wide with a 360 ft (110 m) long main span that provides 49 ft (15 m) of vertical clearance at low river levels. The narrow width causes problems for the two bus lines and other big vehicles that cross it, often requiring traffic going in the other direction to stop. In addition, it is the only bridge in Oregon to be encased in gunite, which protects it from corrosion due to the sulfur dioxide emissions from paper mills south of the bridge. The concrete look was favored by bridge designer Conde McCullough, designer of 500 Oregon bridges. His signature detailing is evident in the obelisk pylons with sconced light fixtures, ornate railings, and Art Deco piers.
The Oregon City Bridge is just downstream from the 40 ft (12 m) tall Willamette Falls and the Willamette Falls Locks, the oldest navigational locks in the United States. Just downstream is the Abernethy Bridge and Interstate 205./ The bridge was built as a replacement of a pedestrian suspension bridge constructed in 1888. The old bridge was used by workers constructing the new arch's box steel ribs. Construction was made difficult by the great depth of the river at the bridge site and by the water traffic during construction. Construction workers used the cables of the old bridge to support the arch prior to completion by running cables from the arch, over the cables to an anchor on the far side. Once the new arch was completed, the old suspension bridge was dismantled. It was opened on December 28, 1922 at a cost of $300,000.
The piers were designed to accommodate public restrooms: decks widen at the piers to provide room for the stairways that descend to the restrooms. Repeated vandalism led to the closure of the restrooms in 1937.
As of 2000 it carried 12,800 vehicles per day, which represents only a 40% growth in traffic since 1953, when a public debate was held about building a parallel bridge next to the existing bridge. While the Oregon City Bridge did not get twinned, the Abernethy Bridge opened in 1970 and has since become the major route through the area.
The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places (as the "Willamette River (Oregon City) Bridge (No. 357)") on July 1, 2005. ~ Wikipedia