1888: (
Archived Bridge Hunter;
Bridge Hunter)
1888 Bridge
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Bridges Now and Then posted
"The Bridge to Oregon City, c. 1905". (Old Oregon Photos)
Theron Stratton: Bet they didn’t get too many speeders on it ! About $455.00 in today’s money |
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David Denenberg commented on the above post
Pic from my collection. It was dismantled in 1922. |
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| HistoricBridges |
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Postcard via BridgeHunter_1888
"The Willamette River Bridge at Oregon City was the first suspension bridge constructed west of the Mississippi River. The wooden bridge carried electrical lines from the near by Willamette Falls power plant along with regular traffic until it was replaced in 1922. The suspension wires and towers form the bridge were utilized to construct the Conde B. McCullough designed through arch bridge at the same site." |
1922 Bridge
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HAER ORE,3-ORGCI,2--22 (CT)
22. View of Oregon City Bridge, looking northeast with Oregon City in the background. - Willamette River Bridge, Spanning Willamette River on Oswego Highway 3, Oregon City, Clackamas County, OR |
Significance: The Willamette River Bridge (commonly called the Oregon City Arch
Bridge) is 745' [227m] long with a 360-foot [110m] steel through arch of box-girder
construction, encased in gunite. The gunite encasement was necessary to
prevent corrosion from sulphur dioxide fumes from the paper mills south
of the bridge. This is the only gunite-covered bridge in Oregon. The
1921-1922 Biennial Report of the Oregon State Highway Commission
praised this bridge as being "the most artistic appearing large bridge in the
State."
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BridgeHunter_1922
"The main structural portions of the arch section of the bridge are made of steel. The arch ribs are hollow steel boxes riveted together. These, and the steel floor beams and stringers which support the deck, are encased in a 1-1/2 inch coating of sprayed concrete, called Gunite. The columns and hangers supporting the deck from the arch ribs are steel sections. The Xshaped cross bracing between the arches are steel trusses. Both of these are encased in solid concrete. The lower arch ribs are connected to appear as a solid spandrel. Information from ODOT Website http://www.oregon.gov/ODOT/HWY/REGION1 [broken link]" |
They used the towers of the suspension bridge in the falsework for constructing the arch.
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| HistoricBridges |
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1 of many photos from a gallery in orcity
The gallery includes several construction photos. |
Fortunately, HistoricBridges saved the
rehab brochure because DOTs are bad at maintaining their links.
MyCityHunt has more information about the arch bridge.
