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When Oregon Department of Transportation project leader Melissa Sutkowski created a request for proposals for the Old Youngs Bay and Lewis and Clark River Bridges Interpretive Display, she didn’t really know what she wanted, so she made the RFP vague. The strategy led to creation of a creative setup that will open officially on Tuesday.

ODOT had recently rebuilt the west approach for the Lewis and Clark River Bridge between Astoria and Warrenton, Sutkowski said. The bridge had huge old gears and other mechanical parts that had been operating nonstop for almost 100 years and needed to be replaced.

The State Historic Preservation Office told ODOT it would like to showcase some of the bridge relics, Sutkowski said, which would help mitigate the fact that the historic structure had to be 鈥渄amaged鈥� to accommodate safety and efficiency upgrades.

鈥淲e had these salvaged parts from the bridge we wanted to incorporate into some sort of interpretive display, but we needed some artistic people to come up with some really great ideas,鈥� she said.

Suenn Ho of Suenn Ho Design provided some. She was awarded the RFP and became the lead designer for the display with the help of John Flynn of Resolve Architecture. Ho also brought in many other artisans she had worked with for the design of the Garden of Surging Waves in Astoria.

With a budget of $200,000 for the project, Ho said the team knew the display had to be 鈥渕ore than just a plaque,鈥� so she started digging and learned that ODOT had copies of the original drawings and plans for the two bridges as well as photos taken when they were constructed in the 1920s.

Images of the drawings and photos will be sandblasted onto one side of flat, granite slabs that will be attached to vertical iron posts as one of the elements in a 27-feet-by-15-feet area. All etched drawings will be highlighted in white enamel paint to make them resemble blueprints, Ho said.

The other side of the granite slabs, which range in size from 9 inches by 15 inches to 24 inches by 50 inches, will feature drawings of bridges by students at Lewis & Clark Elementary in Astoria, along with poems they wrote after they learned about the bridges’ history. The kids’ artwork will also look like blueprints.

Ho said at first only a few of the kids’ drawings and poems were going to be used in the display, but once Sutkowski learned of them, she said all 60 should be included. The students will attend the opening on Tuesday, Ho said, but won’t know until then that all of their designs are featured.

The students’ original drawings will be placed in a metal time capsule that looks like a tree stump. It was built by Astoria High School students Bronson Holthusen and Clay Englund with the help of metal shop teacher Jesse Fulton.

Other elements incorporated in the display include gears formerly used on the Old Youngs Bay Bridge and wooden posts from Lewis and Clark River Bridge trestles. Short wooden posts will be topped by metal, photographic displays telling the history of the bridges and the men who built them.

Both bridges are among 13 on U.S. Route 101 designed by Conde McCullough. A life-size metal silhouette of McCullough stands as part of the interpretive display, next to a list of all the bridges he designed.

鈥淵ou can stand next to him and take a picture,鈥� Ho said.

The Old Youngs Bay and Lewis and Clark River Bridges Interpretive Display is between Astoria and Warrenton, near U.S. Route 101 Business and the Airport Dike Trail. Both bridges can be seen from the location.