The Oregon Department of Transportation has released its , which highlights the conditions of the state’s bridges and the work under way to keep them safe and in service.

ODOT maintains 2,786 state-owned bridges; all are inspected at least every two years by certified inspectors, a press release states. Bridges with known issues are inspected more often. Between inspections, maintenance crews regularly monitor conditions and address issues before they become bigger problems.

Many recent changes in condition ratings are tied to updated federal inspection standards. Because of the two-year inspection cycle and new standards being phased in, ratings will continue to be influenced through 2027, according to ODOT.

National Bridge Inventory standards are used to rate bridge conditions. Ratings derive from conditions of key components like the deck, superstructure and substructure. Approximately 84 percent of bridges managed by ODOT are in fair condition, the press release states.

This year’s report spotlighted the Astoria-Megler Bridge in Astoria. A growing concern is the 6,000-plus breeding pairs of cormorants that nest on the bridge. Their waste interferes with the ability to inspect the bridge for cracks in the steel and deteriorates the paint that protects the steel from corrosion.

An assessment is under way to determine the bridge’s vulnerability to vessel collision. If the results show that the risk is above an acceptable level, ODOT will determine short-term and long-term strategies to reduce the probability of a potential bridge collapse from a vessel collision, the report states.

Meanwhile, the design effort for replacement of the bridge’s deteriorated roadway surface on the Oregon approach will continue; construction is anticipated in 2027.

With adequate funding, approximately 27 state highway bridges could be replaced annually, which is consistent with a 100-year service life, according to the report.

This year, six bridges were replaced: Oregon Route 82 over Bear Creek in Wallowa County, O.R. 99 over Birdseye Creek in Jackson County, O.R. 99 over Miller’s Gulch in Jackson County, O.R. 206 over Rock Creek in Gilliam County, Interstate 5 over Southwest 26th Avenue in Portland, and U.S. Route 26 over Little Humbug Creek in Clatsop County.

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Periodic closures of the Yaquina Bay (Newport) and Astoria-Megler (Astoria) bridges will begin March 2 as part of an effort to relocate cormorants. The bridges will be under construction for protection work and painting this summer. Birds are being encouraged to find other nesting spots.

On March 2, traffic will be held for no more than 20 minutes on the Astoria-Megler Bridge for the first test of the cormorant relocation techniques, according to an Oregon Department of Transportation news release. Daytime closures may continue intermittently through mid-June on the Yaquina Bay Bridge and until September on the Astoria-Megler Bridge.

Staff from the Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, part of the U.S. Department of Agriculture, will use a mixture of light and sound to discourage birds from nesting on the bridges. Techniques include sound cannons that make a loud bang noise and small projectiles that make different noises combined with flashes of light.

Bridge travelers will not be able to see crews at work but may hear the sounds. People nearby may see people on the bridge underdeck using the equipment and see birds scattering. The exact timing, frequency and techniques involved will be adjusted as the work proceeds and as staff learn more about how the cormorants respond. Crews may be seen on the bridges at night. The work will not interfere with river navigation.

The more than 8,000-bird cormorant population on the Astoria-Megler Bridge has doubled during the past decade, coating bridge sections with excrement and tightly spaced nests. This leaves bridge surfaces slippery and makes the biennial inspections more difficult. In addition, the excrement is corrosive and harmful to the protective paint. Painting the 4.1-mile bridge takes 12 years. Final phase work — recoating the deck trusses outside of the main span — began in September. The entire project began in 2016 and is scheduled for completion by the end of 2024.

Several hundred cormorants currently nest in the center span of the Yaquina Bay Bridge. The current protection and repair project will involve working in the center of the bridge this summer. As the birds leave the bridge, containment structures will be built.

Similar efforts were done on the Interstate Bridge in Portland to deter starlings damaging the structure with their droppings. Sound cannons and projectiles were set off on an irregular schedule so the birds would not become accustomed to the noise. The effort was successful and the cannons have not been needed recently, according to ODOT.

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