Siuslaw River Bridge - Oregon Historical Markers on Waymarking.com

This sign located in the outdoor Siuslaw River Bridge Interpretive Center.

Marker Name: Siuslaw River Bridge

Marker Text: Siuslaw River Bridge
The Siuslaw River Bridge was built as part of the Coast Bridges Project. It is one of five designed by Conde B. McCullough and built during the Great Depression from 1934 to 1936. The Coast Bridges Project was funded through the Public Works Administration (PWA) as part of President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s New Deal providing many jobs to struggling families along the Oregon coast. The five coastal bridges include: Alsea Bay Bridge, Coos Bay Bridge (McCullough Memorial Bridge), Siuslaw River Bridge, Umpqua River Bridge, and the Yaquina Bay Bridge.
The first cars, bicycles, and pedestrians crossed the Siuslaw River Bridge on March 31, 1936, in a parade after 20 months of construction. The Bridge was officially dedicated on May 24, 1936, during the Rhododendron Days celebration. With a new method of travel across the Siuslaw River, Florence was fully connected to the Oregon Coast Highway System and tourism increase by 72 percent the first year. As Florence grew, focus began to shift from the river to the highway district.

Updating The Bridge
The Siuslaw River Bridge is a double bascule drawbridge that raises to allow marine traffic to pass. In the past, it opened mainly for cargo ships or barges carrying lumber from local sawmills. Today, it opens mainly for fishing boats and sailing vessels with tall masts.
In 2011, a new computer-operated control mechanism was installed to operate the drawbridge. The manual controls can still be utilized, but require an operator at either end of the bridge to raise both the north and the south portions.

Bridge Terminology
The Siuslaw River Bridge has decorative entry pylons. Most of the supports used are gothic arches called bents. The two on the far ends of the tied arches are called piers, as are the massive piers that hold the machinery and counterweights for the bascule lift span. Located under the supports are the piling, which are a foundation made of Douglas fir logs driven by pile drivers down 30 to 40 feet below the river bottom, except for the southern end where the foundation is composed of bedrock.
Bascule — From the French word for “ses-saw,” a bascule is the movable span that rotates on a horizontal hinged axis to raise one end vertically. A large counterweight is used to offset the weight of the raised leaf. May have a single raised leaf or two that meet in the center when closed.
Bent — A vertical structure supporting the spans of a bridge, typically on land.
Pier — A vertical structure supporting the spans of a bridge, typically in water.
Piling — A long column driven deep into the ground to form part of a foundation of substructure.
Pylon — A monumental vertical structure marking the entrance to a bridge or forming part of a gateway.
Tied Arch — An arch that has a tension member across its base connecting on end to the other.

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