When Knitting Was a Manly Art

A mostly nice day yesterday and I took my bicycle and new camera for a ride along both sides of the Willamette River through downtown Portland. I earlier posted some detailed pictures of the St. Johns bridge at river mile 5.8.

Yesterday I made a quick tour of nearly all the remaining bridges connecting the east and west sides of the city.

At river mile 11.1 is the Fremont Bridge. Opened for traffic in November, 1973, it’s currently the newest bridge crossing the Willamette. The main span was assembled on land and barged and then lifted in place with 32 hydraulic jacks. At 6,000 ton, it was the heaviest bridge lift ever at the time. The lower deck is 175 feet above the water.

At river mile 11.7 is the Broadway Bridge. Opened for traffic in April 1913. The Broadway was the longest double-leaf bascule drawbridge in the world when it opened. It is the longest Rall Bascule drawbridge still in existence.

At river mile 12.1 is the Steel Bridge. Opened for rail traffic in July 1912 and other traffic in August 1912. The Steel carries train traffic on it’s lower deck and automobile and light rail on it’s upper deck. It’s the only double-deck vertical lift bridge of it’s type in the world. The lower deck can be lifted independently of the upper deck.

At river mile 12.4 is the Burnside Bridge. Opened for traffic in May 1926, it as one double-leaf Stauss bascule movable main span.

I love the details added by these old builders. This is one of two bridge operator towers. Note the curlicues at the bottom of the tower and the filigree below the windows.

At river mile 12.8 is the Morrison Bridge. Opened in May 1958, it has one double-leaf Chicago-style bascule movable main span. Note the bridge operators towers resemble airport control towers. Oh so modern…

At river mile 13.1 is the Hawthorne Bridge. Opened in December 1910, it is the oldest of the current bridges. It has a vertical lift movable span.

At river mile 13.5 is the Marquam Bridge. Open in October 1966, it carries north and southbound Interstate 5 on it’s upper and lower decks. There have been many complaints about the Marquam for it’s lack of style and grace, but it was built for utility rather than beauty.

At river mile 14.0 is the Ross Island Bridge. Opened in May 1926. The Ross Island Bridge is a 5-span steel cantilever deck truss with arch-shaped main span. This is generally the same type of bridge that collapsed in Minnesota recently.

A couple more bridges further south down the river I haven’t gotten to yet and I really want some more detailed pictures of the bridges I’ve recorded so far.

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