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Built in 1926, the Chitwood Covered Bridge, which spans the Yaquina River off busy Highway 20 near Newport, was in sore need of repair. The scope of the $1.22 million project included restoring the structural integrity of the 96-foot-long bridge, which features a Howe Truss design, while maintaining the original design esthetic that make it both a vital artery for local traffic and an attraction for covered bridge enthusiasts.

Before work on the bridge could begin, a parallel detour road and bridge had to be constructed. A tight in-water work window compelled Legacy Construction Inc. to use Lincoln County‘s existing 90-foot-long flatcar bridge. With the flatcar bridge in place, footings outside the ordinary high-water mark could be constructed.

Placement of the detour bridge was tricky. A large existing tree was not to be touched and a small shop at the foot of the bridge required a crane lifting the flat car roughly 30 feet over the landowner’s shop and 40 feet over the top of the existing bridge.Ìý To complicate matters, a flood event on December 19, 2014, made the detour bridge unusable. Legacy’s crews worked overtime to make the structure usable by Christmas Eve so that the homeowners on the other side would have access across the river.

Replacement of the bridge’s timbers also caused some problems, required Legacy to work with a Canadian firm to get old-growth, clear-grain cedar timber cut to specification, dried and prepared on schedule. Once dried, the wet season required the lumber, some of which was cut in lengths up to 26 feet, to be pre-painted in a warehouse rather than onsite. Hand-split cedar shakes topped the project and an existing guardrail system was replaced with a new steel-backed timber rail system.

The end result of the project was a full restoration with additional engineering reinforcement that will perform as both a dependable transit across the river and a little local charm for the community. With an eye toward adding to that charm, the exterior of the bridge was painted to match the original redÌý of the structure and the sign above the bridge entrance, which lists the bridge name, its elevation and the distance to Portland and San Francisco – 139 ½ miles and 750 ½ miles, respectively – was restored.

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Project Team + Stats

Project location: Lincoln County, Oregon

Project cost: $1.22 million

Start date: July 2014

Completion date: January 2015

Owner/developer: Lincoln County

Engineer: OBEC Consulting Engineers

General contractor: Legacy Contracting Inc .