These are notes that I am writing to help me learn our industrial history. They are my best understanding, but that does not mean they are a correct understanding.
Wednesday, October 7, 2020
The I-5 Bridges over the Columbia River at Portland, OR, have lift spans
HAER WASH,6-VANCO,5--3 3. PERSPECTIVE LOOKING SOUTH OF LIFT SPAN AND OTHER TRUSSES - Vancouver-Portland Interstate Bridge, Interstate Route 5 Spanning Columbia River, Vancouver, Clark County, WA
"The Interstate Bridge project will either call for the replacement of the Columbia River Crossing or the addition of more bridges. During the first round of debate several river crossing ideas were examined, including tunneling. Officials say tunneling is still an option."
I had trouble finding this bridge on a satellite image because at first I didn't look at the I-5 bridges since an interstate highway should not have a movable span in the 21st Century. Fortunately, some of the other spans in the bridge have a higher clearance so that hopefully these spans don't have to be raised too often.
HAER WASH,6-VANCO,5--1 1. GENERAL VIEW OF PAIRED INTERSTATE BRIDGES FROM NORTH SHORE OF THE COLUMBIA RIVER LOOKING WEST - Vancouver-Portland Interstate Bridge, Interstate Route 5 Spanning Columbia River, Vancouver, Clark County, WA
Some spans in the 1917 bridge were replaced or raised to match the elevation of the 1958 bridge. Specifically, two of the original Parker truss spans were replaced by one 531.4' Pennsylvania truss. The length of the lift spans is 278.7'. [HistoricBridges]
HAER WASH,6-VANCO,5--4 4. DETAIL OF LIFT SPAN SECTION ON EASTERN SIDE LOOKING WEST; OLDER SPAN IN THE FOREGROUND - Vancouver-Portland Interstate Bridge, Interstate Route 5 Spanning Columbia River, Vancouver, Clark County, WA
Significance: The original 1917 bridge represented an
enormous financial and engineering
accomplishment, shared by the counties
of two states. It was designed by the
renowned engineering firm Waddell &
Harrington, leaders in the field of
vertical lift bridge design in the
twentieth century. The 1958 bridge was
built as a twin structure to the
original. The piers of this bridge were
assembled from hollow precast segments,
a (then) recently patented technique. [HAER-data]
LC-DIG-highsm- 51125 Credit line: Photographs in the Carol M. Highsmith Archive, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division. Carol M. Highsmith's photographs are in the public domain. [One of four photos of this bridge]
According to some Bridge Hunter comments, Washington and Oregon have a long history of not being able to agree on what to do. The was the design that was cancelled in May 2014 due to a lack of funding.
They evidently plan to not agree for a while longer because they planed to replace some sheaves (pulleys) in Sep 2020. That can't be cheap. I wonder if the job was done in the planned 9-day outage from Sept. 12 to 20.
ODOT via columbian [The "green things" are the new sheaves. It looks like they are replacing the bearings as well. They are mounted at the top of the towers to hold the cables between the lift span and the counterweights. We can also see a ringer crane mounted on the barge.]
ODOT via columbian [It has to cost a pretty penny just to rent that crane.]
Dennis DeBruler posted the above two photos with the question: "What model is this ringer that replaced some sheaves on the I-5 lift bridge at Vancouver, WA?"
Ben Stalvey: Manitowoc 4100 Ringer
Scott Tipton: It might be a millennium 4100s?
Jim Browne: If its Advanced American's then its a Millennium.
Jonathan Konopka posted This is the Interstate Bridge, which connects Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. It is a vertical lift bridge that had two spans built at two different times. The northbound span was built in 1917 and the southbound span was built in 1958. The bridge carries Interstate 5 over the Columbia River.
Phil Block posted Underneath the Interstate Bridge
In 1917, the American Bridge Company used the "modern" Accelerated Bridge Construction technique of building the trusses along the shore and then floating them into place with barges.
The replacement cost was estimated in 2023 at $5-7.5b. [video @ 4:49]
The cost of the bridge itself is less than half of the $6b cost. Light rail and new, higher approaches and interchanges is what costs more. [10:25 video]
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