Wednesday, March 25, 2020

1931 St. Johns Bridge over Willamette River in Portland, OR

(Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; HAER; 3D Satellite)

The design firm was Robinson & Steinman.

Photo from HAER ORE,26-PORT,13--32 (CT) from or0307

The bridge represents regional and general bridge-building milestones. At the time of completion it was the highest long span in the world. It was the longest single span west of Detroit and the first large suspension bridge built on the west coast. The St. Johns Bridge remains Portland's tallest bridge and Oregon's only major suspension bridge. It is considered one of the world's most beautiful bridges.2...The east pier rests on 1058 Douglas fir wood piles, the west is on a rock foundation....Accounts of the construction of the roadway point out that the concrete used was "transitmixed." In 1990 the sight of dumptrucks travelling down the road with their mixers rolling is nothing to take notice of. But in 1931 it was brand new. In fact the construction of the St. Johns Bridge was the first time transit-mixed concrete was used for a major bridge project. [HAER-data]
The 1928 Ambassador Bridge in Detroit was the longer bridge.
David Steinman was known for suggesting the paint color that would look best on the bridges he designed. He did this for his Mackinac Bridge and also for the St. Johns Bridge. When the paint color of the bridge was being chosen, safety advocates wanted the tall bridge to be painted in stripes of bright yellow and black for airplanes. It is not known why anyone would suggest this given that lights on the towers is the traditional way of warning aircraft of tall structures. There is no record of any bridge in the United States being painted a particular color to warn airplanes. Fortunately, this idea was not selected for the St. Johns Bridge either, and David Steinman's suggestion of verde green to blend in with the trees was chosen. Steinman had a very sensible view on bridge paint color. He disliked the black and grey paint that was typical for bridges. He was quoted as saying he wanted "to get away from these sad, somber, cold colors and into something warm and bright to harmonize with and be apart of the landscape." [Historic Bridges]
And fortunately David's color choice has been retained.

Nicholas Steven Photography posted
A fall day in Cathedral Park.
 Portland, Oregon.
Bridges Now and Then shared
Dennis DeBruler: Portland has an interesting collection of bridges. I had forgotten that it had a suspension bridge. https://loc.gov/pictures/item/or0307/
 
Catherine Patterson posted
This is the St. Johns Bridge, the northernmost of the 12 bridges that cross the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, and my personal favorite. It opened in 1931 and has a span of 1,207 feet.

I like the aesthetic of the towers that have multiple columns. Just a couple of days before I saw Catherine's post, I wrote about the Newell Bridge.
Keller C via Dennis DeBruler

Bridges Now and Then posted
"In the St. Johns Bridge, the desire to secure a beautiful public structure was a governing consideration." ~ David Steinman, Engineering News-Record, February 13, 1930. (City of Portland, Oregon, Archives)
 
Phil Block posted
St John’s Bridge

Neil Ferguson commented on Phil's post
As featured on the cover of the SNBI

I learned of this bridge from these postings.
Advanced American Construction, Inc. posted
Ben Stalvey Sweet 4100 ringer and barge and other Manitowoc
Ben Stalvey shared
What is better then 1 4100 ringer..... Another sweet looking Manitowoc 4100 crawler on barge...
Matt Matthiesen Under Saint Johns Bridge in Portland OR 20 minutes from my house awesome

Rick Wilson commented on Ben's share
Ben Stalvey Sweet Lampson 4100 ringer

At first, I thought ACC was moving cranes into the area to work on this bridge. But it turns out that they have a dock next to that bridge.
3D Satellite

ACC provided a lot of support for the BNSF bridge replacement at Home Valley, WA.

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