91视频

In October 2012, a crowd gathered to celebrate the reopening of the historic arch bridge near Oregon City, an event that carried more than a hint of d茅j脿 vu.

From the use of shotcrete to replicate the bridge’s original texture and look to the choice of Art Deco-style details such as sconce lights, the rehabilitation of the bridge paid tribute to the structure as it first looked nearly 90 years earlier. The project, however, was more a matter of history repeating itself than many people realized.

Until 1898, people trying to cross the Willamette River near Oregon City had no option other than a ferry that charged a toll of 50 cents for teams of horses, mules or yokes of oxen, 25 cents for a man or woman on horseback and 10 cents for anyone traveling by foot.

The options widened in 1898, when the first free suspension bridge west of the Rocky Mountains was completed at Oregon City. The grand opening of the bridge, which a now defunct Oregon City newspaper called The Banner-Courier described as 鈥渁 line of 12-inch planks,鈥� drew a crowd that included Old Barney, the first horse to officially cross the structure. Before too long, the bridge had become not only the favored way for people to cross the river, but also a major tourist destination, with people coming from Portland by boat to see the structure.

Eventually, the introduction of motorized vehicles increased the burden on the bridge. In 1911, Clackamas County officials brought in a bridge expert, who examined the structure and recommended repairs that closed the bridge for two days to all but pedestrians.

Less than a decade later, the planned completion of the Pacific Highway, described by The Oregonian as a 358-mile hard-paved ribbon of roadway, convinced state officials that the suspension bridge would need to be replaced with a more modern structure able to handle the shifting trends in modes of transportation.

The state transportation department turned to its main bridge engineer, Conde Balcom McCullough, who spent two years studying the spot where the suspension bridge was located. McCullough’s replacement for the site, a through-arch design, went public in 1919, when a drawing of the proposed bridge ran on a page of the Aug. 17 edition of The Sunday Oregonian. The newspaper noted that the construction plans for the bridge called for the use of 鈥渇abricated structural steel rib work encased in a protective coating of concrete鈥� 鈥� a strategy that offered a combination of the structural rigidity and durability of both materials.

鈥淭he plans 鈥� embrace that type of construction which is coming more and more into favor because of its conservative features and inherent economy,鈥� the newspaper added.

By 1921, the idea of building a new bridge had garnered support from both sides of the river. Officials in West Linn and Oregon City as well as from Clackamas County signed resolutions asking state legislators to approve bonds to pay for construction of the bridge.

The July 1, 1921, issue of the Capital Journal in Salem carried a page 5 story announcing that A. Guthrie & Co. had won the contract to build the bridge with a bid of $213,601 鈥� the final cost eventually would climb to what was then Oregon’s most expensive bridge at $275,000. Seven months later, 475 tons of steel barged in from Portland stood on the banks of the river waiting for construction to start.

The real work on the bridge was just beginning, however.

The smoke from nearby industrial plants and factories contained sulfur dioxide, a corrosive chemical. So it was determined that the steel that would be used to build the arch would need to be covered with a spray-on material called gunite 鈥� a mixture of sand, concrete and water.

An equally perplexing issue was how to build the arch over the water.

McCullough and R.A. Furrow, who would serve as the state’s resident engineer on the project with C.P Richards as assistant engineer, came up with a solution so creative that it made the pages of a 1922 issue of Popular Science magazine.

The bridge arch was to be composed of hollow steel boxes, placed end to end. Once the boxes were all connected, completing the arch, columns would be built to support the roadway along with hangers to suspend the roadway from above. But the boxes needed to somehow be supported while they were being connected over the river.

McCullough and Furrow decided to put the old suspension bridge to work one last time before its eventual demolition, using it to support the arch of the new bridge while it was being built.

By July 1922, construction was well under way on the Oregon City structure, making it one of more than 150 bridges 鈥� totaling $1.8 million worth of construction 鈥� that that were either contracted for, under construction or completed by the state transportation department during that year.

On Dec. 28 a crowd once again gathered near Oregon City, this time to celebrate the official dedication of Oregon City’s new arch bridge, which at the time was the longest single span highway structure in the country. The event featured speeches and band performances as well as the wedding of a woman from West Linn and a man from Oregon City that served as a symbol of the joining of the two communities by the new structure. The mayors of West Linn and Oregon City led a crowd to the center of the bridge, where a barrier placed there was unlocked and, according to a newspaper reporter, 鈥渨histles from the industrial plants and nearby boats issued their glad salute.鈥�

A reporter from The Banner-Courier captured the events of the day and posed a thought-proving question: 鈥淲e who have witness(ed) the growth from day to day have marveled at the modern miracle of engineering, which has taken (form) before our eyes. Will the next 32 years see this structure replaced with a more modern creation? Or will it last through the century to come?鈥�

The reporter likely wasn’t around almost nine decades later when the question was answered. Increasing traffic, including heavier vehicles, took a toll on the bridge following its original construction, and a major upgrade was required.

The October 2013 dedication ceremony marking completion of the rehabilitation project in large part mimicked the ones held in 1898 and 1922. The only things missing from the modern-day event: a horse like Old Barney and the 鈥済lad salutes鈥� from nearby industrial plants and boats.

Flashback Friday is a new 91视频 feature that examines the history of Oregon’s built environment. To suggest a project, event or person for a story, contact 91视频 Editor Stephanie Basalyga at [email protected] or at 503-802-7222.