PORTLAND PLACES: Willamette River Bridges by Robert D. West

Willamette River Bridges

Because Portland straddles the Willamette River, many bridges are needed throughout the city to cross it. This page lists all the bridges across the Willamette River from Oregon City to the Columbia River, in order, starting in the south. Every bridge is distinctly different, and many of them hold a notable distinction in the world.

Oregon City Bridge

The first suspension bridge west of the Mississippi River was erected here in 1888. This concrete arch bridge was built in 1922 to replace it. The suspension cables from the original bridge were used to support the current bridge during

Bridge Type:	Half-through Arch
Opened:	December 28, 1922
Designed by:	Conde B. McCullough
Built by:	A. Guthrie & Company, Portland, OR
Total length:	745 feet
Main Span Length:	360 feet
Width:	28 feet
Vertical Clearance:	49 feet
Construction Cost:	$300,000
Carries:	Oregon Highway 43
Owned by:	Oregon Department of Transportation

construction. The bridge was designed by Conde B. McCullough, and the bridge's Art Deco details are typical of McCullough's designs. The bridge features a 360-foot half-through arch main span, and is one of only four of this type of bridge in Oregon. Though the bridge structure appears to be built entirely of concrete, the arch is actually steel and is covered with a protective layer of sprayed-on concrete called gunite. The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on July 1, 2005.

George Abernethy Memorial Bridge

This steel plate and box girder bridge opened on May 3, 1970 carrying Interstate 205's 6 lanes across the Willamette River. It was built near the location of Abernethy's home. The bridge is made up of 15 spans and 60 girders. The bridge is 2,727 feet long. The longest span is 430 feet long, and maximum vertical clearance at low river level is 85 feet. The entire bridge is built on a slope such that southbound traffic is going uphill for the entire length of the bridge and for a half-mile beyond. The bridge was built at a cost of $15.9 million, and an $8 million seismic retrofit was done from 1999 to 2002. The bridge was designated the "George Abernethy Memorial Bridge" by the 1979 Oregon Legislature. George Abernethy arrived in

Bridge Type:	Steel Plate/Box Girder
Opened:	May 3, 1970
Total Length:	2,727 feet
Longest Span:	430 feet
Vertical Clearance:	85 feet
Construction Cost:	$15.9 million
Carries:	Interstate 205
Owned by:	Oregon Department of Transportation

Oregon on June 2, 1840 as part of Jason Lee's Methodist Willamette Mission at Champoeg. He was involved in the series of meetings to form the Oregon Country's provisional government, and became the first provisional Governor in 1845. Abernethy served two terms as Governor, until 1849, when Oregon became a territory of the United States and the provisional government ceased to exist. Abernethy's home was located on the east bank on the Willamette River near Oregon City.

Lake Oswego Railroad Bridge

The two through truss spans of this railroad bridge are dated 1907. Each span is 298 feet long. The east approach is a slightly-

Bridge Type:	Through Truss
Opened:	1910
Built by:	Southern Pacific Railroad
Total Length:	1,378 feet
Main Span Length:	298 feet x 2
Owned by:	Union Pacific Railroad

curved 668-foot wood trestle. Total length with approaches is 1,378 feet. The line between Milwaukie and Lake Oswego was completed and opened in 1910. This route was originally built by the Southern Pacific Railroad, which was acquired by the Union Pacific Railroad in 1996. The line is currently operated by the Portland & Western Railroad, which has leased the line since 1995. These pictures were all taken from Rivervilla Park on the east side of the river.

Sellwood Bridge

The Sellwood Bridge is the southernmost Willamette River Bridge that is technically within Portland, as Sellwood was annexed into Portland in 1893. The Sellwood Bridge is a four-span continuous-truss bridge. It opened on December 15, 1925, and is one of only three pre-1941 continuous-truss bridges in Oregon. It was designed by Gustav Lindenthal, who also designed Portland's Burnside Bridge and Ross Island Bridge and New York City's Hell Gate Bridge and Queensboro Bridge. The total length of the bridge is 1,971 feet. The four main spans form a 1,092-foot continuous Warren deck truss. The two center spans are each 300 feet long, while the other two are 246 feet long. Steel girders from the first Burnside Bridge, built in 1894, were used in the approaches of the Sellwood Bridge. The steel was fabricated by the Judson Manufacturing Company and the bridge was constructed by Gilpin

Bridge Type:	Four-span continuous-truss (Warren deck truss)
Opened:	December 15, 1925
Designed by:	Gustav Lindenthal
Fabricated by:	Judson Manufacturing Company
Built by:	Gilpin Construction Company, Portland, OR
Total Length:	1,971 feet
Truss Length:	1,092 feet
Vertical Clearance:	75 feet
Construction cost:	$541,000
Owned by:	Multnomah County

Construction Company of Portland. The bridge was built at a cost of $541,000. The two-lane bridge features a 24-foot roadway with a single 4'-3" sidewalk on the north side. It has 75 feet of vertical clearance. It is the busiest two-lane bridge in Oregon. Cracks discovered in the approaches in January 2004 led to the weight limit being lowered to 10 tons. Various plans for repairing or replacing the bridge are under consideration.

Ross Island Bridge

Bridge Type:	Cantilever Truss
Opened:	December 21, 1926
Designed by:	Gustav Lindenthal
Built by:	Booth & Pomeroy
Total Length:	over 3,700 feet
Truss Length:	1,819 feet
Main Span Length:	535 feet
Construction Cost:	$1.9 million
Carries:	U.S. Highway 26
Built for:	Multnomah County
Owned by:	Oregon Department of Transportation

Though it looks like a deck arch bridge, the Ross Island Bridge is the only cantilever truss bridge in Oregon. It was designed by Gustav Lindenthal, built by Booth & Pomeroy at a cost of $1.9 million and opened on December 21, 1926. The entire bridge is over 3,700 feet long. The cantilever truss is 1,819 feet long, with a 535-foot main span. The Ross Island Bridge carries US Highway 26. Despite its name, it does not physically connect to Ross Island in any way and is located about 800 feet north of the island. It was originally owner by Multnomah County, but was transferred to the Oregon Department of Transportation in 1976.

Marquam Bridge

Bridge Type:	Double-deck Cantilever
Opened:	October 1966
Total Length:	1,042 feet
Center Span Length:	440 feet
Width:	57 feet
Vertical Clearance:	130 feet
Construction cost:	$14 million
Carries:	Interstate 5
Owned by:	Oregon Department of Transportation

The Marquam Bridge is a double-deck cantilever bridge that carries Interstate 5, designed and built by the Oregon Department of Transportation at a cost of $14 million. The lower southbound deck opened on October 4, 1966, and the northbound upper deck opened on October 18, 1966. The bridge is 1,042 feet long; the center span is 440 feet long and the other two spans are each 301 feet long. The bridge has vertical clearance of 130 feet to the lower level, and the upper level is 20 feet higher. The bridge is 57 feet wide. It is named for Philip Augustus Marquam, an early Portland resident and real estate developer, and represented Multnomah County in the Oregon House of Representatives.

Hawthorne Bridge

Bridge Type:	Through Truss Vertical Lift
Opened:	December 19, 1910
Designed by:	Waddell & Harrington, Kansas City, MO
Built by:	Pennsylvania Steel Company United Engineering & Construction
Total Length:	1,382 feet
Lift Span Length:	244 feet
Width:	72 feet
Closed Vertical Clearance:	49 feet
Tower Height:	165 feet
Construction Cost:	$511,000
Owned by:	Multnomah County

The Hawthorne Bridge is the oldest operating vertical lift bridge in the United States and the oldest highway bridge in Portland. It is named for Dr. James C. Hawthorne, founder of the Oregon State Hospital. It replaced two previous Madison Bridges built here in 1891 and 1900. The five-span bridge is 1,382 feet long, with a 244-foot vertical-lift span. Each of the two counterweights weighs 450 tons. The 72-foot-wide deck includes two traffic lanes inside the through trusses and an outboard lane and sidewalk on each side.

Morrison Bridge

The first Morrison Bridge was a wooden truss swing span bridge that was completed on April 12, 1887. It was Portland's first Willamette River bridge and was the longest bridge west of the Mississippi. It was operated manually by two men on calm days or four men on windy days. It was originally a toll bridge, charging for a one-way crossing 15¢ for a horse-drawn rig, 20¢ for a team of horses and 5¢ for a pedestrian. It became toll free in 1895, putting the

Stark Street Ferry out of

Bridge Type:	Chicago-style double-leaf bascule
Completed:	May 24, 1958
Designed by:	Sverdrup/Parcel, St. Louis, MO Moffat, Nichols & Taylor, Portland, OR
Substructure Construction:	Manson Construction & Engineering
Superstructure Construction:	American Bridge Division of the U.S. Steel Co.
Total Length:	760 feet
Draw Span Length:	284 feet
Width:	90 feet
Closed Vertical Clearance:	69 feet
Construction Cost:	$12.9 million
Owned by:	Multnomah County

business. The second Morrison Bridge was a swing bridge built in 1905. This Morrison Bridge was completed on May 24, 1958. It is the largest mechanical device in Oregon, with 36-foot tall gears driving 940-ton counterweights in the piers. The six-lane bridge includes a 284-foot draw span and two 238-foot steel deck truss spans. It is named for John L. Morrison, a Scottish immigrant who built the first home on Morrison Street.

Burnside Bridge

The Burnside bridge takes its name from Burnside Street, which was named for Daniel W. Burnside (1825-1887), a Portland flour merchant, and a partner in the firm Snow, Burnside & Savier, located on S.W. 4th Ave. The original Burnside Bridge was completed in 1894. Two of its spans were relocated over the Sandy and Bull Run rivers, and some of its girders were used in the approaches of the Sellwood Bridge. This Burnside Bridge was the eleventh of twelve movable bridges built in Portland's harbor during the twentieth century; only the Morrison Bridge is newer. It was originally designed by Ira G. Hedrick and Robert Kremers of Portland. The opening mechanism is the patent of Joseph Strauss (1870-1938), whose Golden Gate Suspension Bridge would open 11 years after the Burnside. The Burnside Bridge was Portland's only bridge designed with an architect's input, resulting in its Italian Renaissance towers. In the 1920s, fiscal shenanigans resulted in the indictment of public officials and engineers responsible for erecting three bridges across the Willamette. Gustav Lindenthal, consulting engineer, was called from New York City to save the day. One of the most respected bridge engineers in the world, Lindenthal redesigned the Ross Island and Sellwood bridges, and finished the Burnside Bridge. The three were the largest construction projects on the West Coast at the time and came in on budget. They

Bridge type:	Steel Strauss-style double-lift trunnion bascule
Opened:	May 28, 1926
Designed by:	Ira G. Hedrick & Robert Kremers, Portland, OR Completed by Gustav Lindenthal Bascule Span by Joseph Strauss
Piers Built by:	Pacific Bridge Company, Portland, Oregon
Bridge built by:	Booth & Pomeroy
Total Length:	2,308 feet
Lift Span Length:	252 feet
Width:	86 feet
Closed Vertical Clearance:	64 feet
Opening time:	approx. 7 minutes
Construction Cost:	$4.5 million
Owned by:	Multnomah County

opened the east side to vast expansion of residential neighborhoods.

The entire bridge is 2,308 feet long, with a 252 foot center span and two 268-foot steel deck truss spans. The bridge is 86 feet wide and originally featured six traffic lanes. One lane was removed in 1995 to make room for two bicycle lanes. Its concrete deck makes it one of the heaviest bascule bridges in the United States, and the counterweights in the piers weigh 1,700 tons.

Steel Bridge

The Steel Bridge is named for the original 1888 Steel Bridge's pioneering use of steel instead of wrought iron. The original Steel Bridge was a double-deck swing span that turned on its axis and was the second to cross the lower Willamette after the original Morrison Bridge. When this bridge was built to replace it in 1912, the name was simply transferred. The Steel Bridge is the only vertical lift bridge in the world with two decks that move independently of each other, and is the second oldest vertical lift bridge in North America, after the Hawthorne Bridge. It was built by the Union Pacific Railroad and the Oregon Railway & Navigation Company and is currently owned by Union Pacific, with the top deck leased to the Oregon Department of Transportation. The main span is a 211-foot steel through Pratt truss, double vertical lift span, with 290-foot Pratt through truss spans at each end. When lowered, the lower deck is 26 feet above the water. The lower deck of the lift span, built for trains, telescopes into the upper deck built for street railways, pedestrians and gasoline and horse powered vehicles. Raising the lower deck permits small craft on the river to pass without raising the entire bridge. When raised, the top deck is 165 feet above the water. It takes an average of three minutes to raise the bottom deck and five minutes to raise both. Gears, pulleys, sheaves, electric motors, and ten counterweights - five in each tower - provide the lifting power. The total moving weight of both decks and counterweights is nine million pounds. The original cost of construction was $1.7 million. A redesign in 1986 to accommodate MAX Light Rail cost $10 million. The RiverWalk pedestrian and bicycle crossing over the Willamette River was constructed by the Portland Office of Transportation in partnership with the Union Pacific Railroad Company, with special thanks for the generosity of the following organizations: Louis Dreyfus, GSL Properties, Hoyt Street Properties, Kalberer Hotel Supply, H. Naito Corporation, METRO, NW Natural Gas, Oregon Arena/Corporation, Port of Portland, and Portland Development Commission. It was completed in the spring of 2001.

Bridge type:	Steel Pratt through truss double vertical lift
Opened:	1912
Designed by:	John Lyle Harrington & J. A. L. Waddell, Kansas City, MO
Substructure Built by:	Union Bridge & Construction Company, Kansas City, MO
Superstructure Built by:	Robert Wakefield, Portland, OR
Total Length:	791 feet
Lift Span Length:	211 feet
Closed Vertical Clearance:	26 feet
Open Vertical Clearance:	165 feet
Opening Time:	3-5 minutes
Owned by:	Union Pacific Railroad

Broadway Bridge

The Broadway Bridge is the largest of only three Rall-type highway bascule bridges remaining in the United States. When it opened on April 22, 1913, it was the largest bascule bridge ever built, and it remains the seventh-largest bascule bridge in the world. The 278-foot double-leaf bascule span is a Rall-type bascule, designed by Theodore Rall. Each leaf of the bascule span is nearly 140 feet long and weighs over 2,000 tons. The span takes over 20 minutes to fully open, but with 70 feet of vertical clearance, all but the largest ships will fit under it, so it only has to open about 25 times per month. When fully open, the bascule spans are 89 degrees from horizontal; nearly vertical. The rest of the bridge consists of fixed spans, four of which are Pennsylvania-Petit

Bridge Type:	Rall-type double-leaf bascule through truss
Opened:	April 22, 1913
Bridge Designed by:	Ralph Modjeski, Chicago, IL
Bascule Span Designed By:	Strobel Engineering Co., Chicago, IL
Substructure built by:	Union Bridge & Construction Co., Kansas City, MO
Fabricated & Erected by:	Pennsylvania Steel Co., Steelton, PA
Total Length:	1,613 feet
Draw Span Length:	278 feet
Closed Vertical Clearance:	70 feet
Width:	70 feet
Opening Time:	approx. 20 minutes
Owned by:	Multnomah County
Color:	Golden Gate Red

through truss spans. The spans on either side of the bascule span are each 295 feet long; the western approach spans are 267 and 282 feet long. The eastern approach span is a 180-foot Warren through truss span. Though originally painted black, the bridge has been painted Golden Gate Red for many years.

Fremont Bridge

The double-deck Fremont Bridge has the longest main span of any bridge in Oregon. Each of the two levels has four lanes. It is the second longest tied arch bridge in the world, after the Caiyuanba Bridge over the Yangtze River in China which opened on October 29, 2007. The main arch span was constructed in California and assembled on Swan Island, 1.7 miles downstream, and floated into place on a barge. On March 16, 1973, the 6,000 ton steel arch span was lifted 170 feet with 32 hydraulic jacks. The Guinness Book of World Records listed it as the heaviest lift ever completed. It was

Bridge Type:	Double-deck Tied Arch Bridge
Opened:	November 11, 1973
Designed by:	Oregon Department of Transportation Parsons Brinckerhoff, Inc. Portland Art Commission Federal Highway Administration
Total Length:	2,154 feet
Main Span Length:	1,255 feet
Vertical Clearance:	175 feet
Construction Cost:	$82 million
Carries:	Interstate 405/U.S. Highway 30
Owned by:	Oregon Department of Transportation
Color:	Celery Green

supervised by bridge engineer Ed Wortman. The bridge opened on November 11, 1973. The flags on top of the arch were added in 1976; the flags measure 15 by 25 feet and are on 50 foot poles. Though it is hard to tell, the Fremont Bridge is painted a very pale Celery Green. The Fremont Bridge is named for John Charles Frémont, who was a Military Governor of California, one of the first two United States Senators from California, the first Republican Presidential candidate and the first candidate of a major party to run on a platform opposing slavery, a Civil War General and a Governor of the Arizona Territory.

BNSF Railroad Bridge 5.1

This double-track through-truss railroad bridge was built by the Northern Pacific Railroad in 1908. It consists of a total of five through-truss spans. The main center span was originally a swing span, and was the longest swing-span bridge in the world. In

Bridge Type:	Through-truss vertical-lift
Completed:	1908
Built by:	Northern Pacific Railroad
Main Span Length:	516 feet
Open Vertical Clearance:	200 feet
Owned by:	Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad

1989, the main span was replaced with a 516-foot vertical lift span. It is the world's fourth highest vertical lift span with vertical clearance of 200 feet. It is currently owned by the Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad.

St. Johns Bridge

The St. Johns Bridge is one of only three highway suspension bridges in Oregon. It is 2,067 feet long, with a 1,207-foot center span. The gothic towers are 408 feet tall, and the bridge has 205 feet of vertical clearance, making it the tallest of Portland's bridges. The bridge was designed by noted bridge engineer David B. Steinman, who worked with Gustav Lindenthal on New York's Hell Gate Bridge and went on to design the Mackinac Bridge connecting the upper and lower peninsulas of Michigan. Construction began a month before the 1929 stock market crash, and was completed in 21 months and $1 million under budget. The bridge was dedicated on June 13, 1931, as part of the Rose Festival. Its opening ended the last ferry operation in Portland across the Willamette

Bridge Type:	Suspension
Dedicated:	June 13, 1931
Designed by:	David B. Steinman
Total Length:	2,067 feet
Center Span Length:	1,207 feet
Tower Height:	408 feet
Vertical Clearance:	205 feet
Carries:	U.S. Highway 30 Bypass
Built for:	Multnomah County
Owned by:	Oregon Department of Transportation
Color:	Verde Green

River. At the time, it was the longest bridge across the Willamette River and the longest suspension span west of Detroit, Michigan; it had the highest clearance of any bridge in the United States, the longest prefabricated cable rope strands, the tallest steel-frame reinforced concrete piers (Pier #10 is the tallest, at 183 feet) and the first application of aviation clearance lights. The bridge's color of Verde Green was chosen by Steinman; the color was announced on St. Patrick's Day, 1931. The St. Johns Bridge is said to have been his favorite of the 400 bridges he designed. The bridge was originally owned by Multnomah County, but was taken over by the State of Oregon on August 31, 1975. The bridge and the St. Johns community are named for settler James John, who, in 1852 with a single rowboat, started the ferry service that this bridge replaced. The land where he settled, now under the bridge's east approach, is now Cathedral Park, dedicated on May 3, 1980 and named for the bridge's cathedral-like gothic arches.

Sauvie Island Bridge

The Sauvie Island Bridge actually crosses Multnomah Channel, the body of water that diverges from the Willamette River just before it joins the Columbia and separates Sauvie Island from the Oregon mainland before joining the Columbia itself a few miles downriver. Multnomah Channel may have once been the main channel of the Willamette River, and it is so closely associated with the Willamette River that I am counting the Sauvie Island Bridge as a Willamette River Bridge.

The original Sauvie Island Bridge was designed by the Oregon Department of Transportation and was constructed in 1950 at a cost of $900,000. The bridge opened on December 30, 1950, replacing the Sauvie Island Ferry, and was transferred to Multnomah County on August 9, 1951. The overall length of the entire bridge is 1,198 feet. The main span is a 200-foot long steel Parker through truss bridge, with an overall width of 41 feet, including two 13-foot traffic lanes, without shoulders, and two four-foot sidewalks. 200-foot deck truss spans are on each end of the main span, with the ends of the bridge consisting of reinforced concrete deck girders on

Bridge type:	Parker through truss/deck truss
Opened:	December 30, 1950
Designed by:	Oregon Department of Transportation
Total Length:	1,198 feet
Main Span Length:	200 feet
Width:	41 feet
Vertical Clearance:	80 feet
Carries:	NW Sauvie Island Road
Owned by:	Multnomah County

concrete piers. The bridge was not designed to support the weight of modern trucks. Cracks were discovered in the approach spans in 2001, and repairs completed in 2002 allowed the bridge to remain in service until a new bridge could be constructed.

The new Sauvie Island Bridge was designed by David Evans & Associates. The $38 million project began in December 2005. The main arch is 365 feet long, 77 feet tall and weighs 1600 tons. The arch was fabricated by Fought and Company of Tigard, assembled there, then disassembled and moved by truck to Terminal 2 at 3556 NW Front Avenue in Portland, where it was reassembled. The arch is held together by over 80,000 bolts. After being placed on the barge at Terminal 2, the arch was jacked up 70 feet above the deck of the

Bridge Type:	Steel Tied Arch
Est. Completion:	Summer 2008
Designed by:	H2L2 Architecture David Evans & Associates
Fabricated by:	Fought & Company, Tigard, OR
Built by:	Max J. Kuney Company
Main Span Length:	365 feet
Arch Height:	77 feet
Vertical Clearance:	80 feet
Width:	66 feet
Construction budget:	$38 million
Carries:	NW Sauvie Island Road
Owned by:	Multnomah County

barge, supported by hydraulic jacks and a tropical hardwood called ekki. The move was originally scheduled for October 2007, but due to the availability of the Western Carrier, one of the few barges capable of both carrying the arch and fitting in Multnomah Channel, concerns about spawning salmon and other delays, subcontractor Dix/Norsar didn't take the arch on its 2-hour trip from Terminal 2 eight miles downriver to Sauvie Island until December 28. In transit, the bottom of the arch was about 90 feet above the water and the top of the arch 167 feet above the water. Multnomah County's 70-year-old senior bridge engineer Ed Wortman delayed his retirement to supervise the project. Wortman was the chief engineer in charge of lifting the main span of the Fremont Bridge in 1973, which was the largest bridge lift ever attempted at the time.