Sauvie Island Bridge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Official name Sauvie Island Bridge
Carries Access from U.S. Route 30 to Sauvie Island.
Crosses Willamette River
Locale Multnomah Channel
Longest span 457.2 meters (1,500 feet)
Total length 365 meters (1,198 feet)
Width 8 meters (26 feet)
Opening date December 30, 1950
Maps and aerial photos

The Sauvie Island Bridge crosses the Multnomah Channel of the Willamette River near Portland, Oregon, United States. This 1,500-foot-long steel truss bridge was built in 1950 and it is in the process of being replaced by a new bridge.

Contents

[edit] Old bridge

Opened on December 30, 1950, the first bridge to Sauvie Island replaced the Sauvie Island Ferry.[1] The $900,000 bridge was designed by the State Highway Department and built by Gilpin Construction.[1] Oregon transferred ownership to the county in 1951.[1] Comprised of three steel truss spans it is a total of 1,198 feet long, with the main span measuring 200 feet in length.[1] The approach spans are built of reinforced concrete girders.[1] Green in color, the bridge is 41 feet wide and carries two lanes of traffic and has sidewalks on both sides.[1] The main span, which is a Parker through truss, sits 80 feet above the water line and handles 3,800 vehicles per day on average.[1]

[edit] New bridge

After cracks were found in the 1950 span in 2001, the owners (Multnomah County) restricted weight and speed on the bridge.[1] Early designs for a new bridge were submitted in July 2004, and groundbreaking was held on January 4, 2006.[1] The new $38 million dollar span was designed by H2L2 Architecture with David Evans & Associates as the design engineers, and built by Max J. Kuney Company.[1] Located at river mile three, the main span is 360 feet long and rests 80 feet above the water.[1] The main span is of a tied-arch design constructed of steel, while the approach spans are a box-girder style using pre-stressed concrete.[1] The bridge has two lanes of traffic with shoulders and sidewalks on both sides for a total width of 66 feet.[1]

In March, 2006, Portland city commissioner Sam Adams proposed reusing the Sauvie Island bridge span as a bicycle/pedestrian bridge over Interstate 405 in downtown Portland, as part of the Burnside/Couch Transportation and Urban Design Plan.[2] A coalition of Portland community groups including the Pearl District Neighborhood Association and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance have supported the idea.[3]

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m Wortman, Sharon Wood, Ed Wortman, and James B. Norman. 2006. The Portland Bridge Book. Portland, OR: Urban Adventure Press. ISBN 9780978736514. pp. 102-104.
  2. ^ "Is the Sauvie Island Bridge Worth Saving?", CommissionerSam.com
  3. ^ "Pearl wants Sauvie Bridge" by Andy Giegerich, Portland Business Journal, July 20, 2007

[edit] See also

[edit] External links