Portland Gets a New Bridge!

Courtesy OregonLive.com

Many years ago, we presented our readers reader with a post about bridges in Portland. Great times, I know. Well, get ready to add one more bridge to the mix. The City of Portland and Trimet recently broke ground on a new bridge over the Willamette. This bridge, completion date of many years from now, will carry light rail, people, and bikes. No cars allowed! That's Portland for you.

For now they are calling the bridge the Portland-Milwaukie light-rail bridge. I have a feeling they will come up with a cooler name once it gets dedicated. I'm thinking something to do with beer, books, or hipsters. Read more about the bridge and see a nice graphic here. To watch the building, live, click here.

Bonus Bridges!

And you thought I might leave out bridges over the mighty Columbia in our survey of bridges, HA! There are two Portland bridges connecting Oregon to Washington, over the Columbia River. Your standard massive highway bridges. The heaviest traveled bridge is the Glenn Jackson Bridge, which carries I-205 traffic from Vancouver, WA to Portland (because let's face it, no one would want to go the other way). I often hear of traffic tie-ups on or near this bridge during rush hour.

The other bridge in the area is the Interstate Bridge. This is an interesting bridge because it carries I-5 traffic, and lifts to let boats go under. Not sure how that works with traffic... I will have to investigate! This is also two, two, two bridges in one!

Oh! To be totally accurate about yesterday's post, there is also a railroad bridge that serves Portland, on the Willamette. It is the BNSF Railroad Bridge. Just wanted to be thorough. So do you see why it's called Bridgetown?

***UPDATE***
(6/14) I had the pleasure of diving over both the Glen Jackson and Interstate Bridges tonight! It was my first time to cross the Columbia River (unless you count the times playing Oregon Trail!). The Columbia is even more mighty near Portland than where we first encountered it. The Interstate Bridge gives you a great view of the Columbia River, and is a pretty neat bridge, if your into that sort of thing. If you ever head north on I-5 over the Columbia, stay in the right lane. Look to your right and you will see an amazing site: the Columbia River Valley with Mount Hood in the background! Awesome!

Old Mr. Jackson bridge, on the other hand, was not really that exciting, no trusses, arches, or trains (although there is a bike lane in the median). In my little car you couldn't really see over the side, and only once did I get a good glimpse of the Columbia (but it was also getting dark). The bridge is about 2 miles long, so it is kind of like driving on the Crosstown Expressway in OKC ... only I didn't have to avoid holes in the bridge deck while driving the Glen Jackson.

Bridges of Multnomah Co.

The Willamette (Will-LAMB-et) is a river that cuts through Portland. The downtown area of Portland is situated on the banks of the Willamette. So, it goes without saying that there needs to be bridges to connect east and west Portland (a fleet of 10,000 ferry boats just isn't cost effective). The neat thing about the bridges over the Willamette is that many of them are draw/lift bridges.

Going from upstream (south end of Portland) to the Columbia River (north Portland).

Sellwood Bridge - A really old bridge that will probably be closed to all but pedestrian traffic someday. This is a fixed bridge with about 75 feet of clearance.

Ross Island Bridge - The only cantilever truss bridge in Oregon. Whatever that means. This bridge is also fixed (boring!) and doesn't actually touch Ross Island (what a jip!).

Marquam Bridge - Possibly the least exciting bridge in Portland. Nothing too descript, but it does have two decks, one for each direction of flow.

Hawthorne Bridge - My favorite bridge of the collection. It actually has a section that lifts! And is the oldest type of lift bridge in operation for the US. The Hawthorne Bridge also served as a neat backdrop for the Obama rally.

Morrison Bridge - One of three actual "bascule bridges in Portland (and I thought they were draw bridges). I usually end up crossing this one when coming back from the airport, in case you care.

Burnside Bridge - A second bascule bridge in Portland. I think it is an architecturally neat bridge. And it has earthquake protection! I was almost stopped by this bridge once, but it was nice and let me cross.


Steel Bridge - A real original name I know. It has just about all kinds of traffic: cars, trains, and people. Honestly, it kind of creeps me out.

Broadway Bridge - The third bascule bridge.

Fremont Bridge - Another fixed bridge carrying interstate traffic. Like the Marquam bridge, there are two decks. Allegedly, it is the second longest tied arch bridge in the world. I can see this bridge from my office, and it almost always looks busy during the day. Fortunately, when I've driven on it, the traffic was light.


St. Johns Bridge - I didn't know this bridge existed...need to get out more.

(special thanks to Portland Logue and Wikipedia for the bridge information)