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The Oregon City Arch Bridge Project is on track to be finished next spring despite delays and an additional $1 million in construction costs, according to officials with the Oregon Department of Transportation.

The delays and costs stem from complications related to the 89-year-old bridge’s unique makeup. The bridge is the only concrete-covered steel bridge in the world, said Wayne Statler, ODOT project manager. Conde McCullough, designer of the bridge, designed it that way to protect its steel rods from chemicals given off by mills in the area. Nonetheless, the rods had been damaged, ODOT discovered, and many of them had to be replaced.

鈥淲e expected that we would find places that would need to be repaired, but we did not exactly know where they all were or exactly what the repairs would be,鈥� Statler said. 鈥淎 lot of it was pristine, but in the bad places, it was really bad.鈥�

To stay on pace, ODOT workers have been working additional shifts. Most of the damaged rods have been replaced and the project will soon move on to its next phase. Finishing on time has been imperative, as some business owners in the area have stated that closing the bridge has hurt them, Statler said.

The project, the first extensive renovation the bridge has ever had, started early last year and was expected to take two years.