Sunday, November 6, 2011

Sunday Bridges: Fremont Bridge over the Willamette River

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DSC_0025p_Fremont_Bridge_HDR-ish_Sunday_Bridges
The Fremont Bridge as seen from Interstate Avenue, northward bound on the Yellow Line MAX train. I'm looking toward the Northwest Hills. I have cropped and altered it with Picnik's HDR-ish special effect.

Found on the Internet:

The Fremont Bridge is a steel tied arch bridge over the Willamette River located in Portland, Oregon. It carries Interstate 405 and US 30 traffic between downtown and North Portland where it intersects with I-5. It has the longest main span of any bridge in Oregon and is the second longest tied arch bridge in the world (after Caiyuanba Bridge across the Yangtze River, China). The bridge was named for John Charles Frémont, though a nearby street was previously named Fremont Street in honor of the same individual.

The bridge has two decks carrying vehicular traffic, each with four lanes. The upper deck is signed westbound on US 30 and southbound on I-405. The lower deck is signed eastbound on US 30 and northbound on I-405. The upper deck is closed to vehicular traffic annually for the Providence Bridge Pedal, a fundraiser which, in 2011, benefited the Providence (Hospital) Heart and Vascular Institute and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance. (One of these days I'm going to get brave enough to walk the bridges included in this event.)

The Fremont Bridge is 2,154 feet long, with its longest span at 1,255 feet. The clearance below the bridge is 175 feet, while the vertical clearance is 18.3 feet--I assume that means clearance between the two decks. It crosses the Willamette River and surface streets in Portland.

Due to the public's dissatisfaction with the appearance of the Marquam Bridge, the Portland Art Commission was invited to participate in the design process of the Fremont. The improvement in visual quality resulted in a bridge that was nearly six times as expensive as the purposely-economical Marquam Bridge. Designers modeled the bridge after the Port Mann Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia.

In October of 1971, while still under construction, a crack was found on the west span girder that required a $5.5 million redesign and repair. The main span of the bridge was built in California then assembled at Swan Island, 1.7 miles (2.7 km) downstream. After completion it was floated into place on a barge.

On March 16, 1973 the 6,000 ton steel arch span was lifted 170 ft (52 m) using 32 hydraulic jacks. At the time, it was listed in the Guinness Book of World Records as the heaviest lift ever completed. The bridge was opened on November 15, 1973 at a final cost of $82 million, most of which was financed by the Federal Highway Administration.

In 1976, an American flag and an Oregon flag were added atop the structure as part of the bicentennial celebration for the United States.[4] The 15 feet (4.6 m) by 25 feet (7.6 m) flags are attached to 50-foot (15 m) tall flagpoles at the crest of the arches.

The Fremont Bridge was also the 26th Peregrine falcon nest site designated in Oregon after the raptor was placed on the U.S. Threatened and Endangered Species list in 1970.

10 comments:

Al said...

That's an imposing-looking bridge, and I bet it's very busy too. Nice shot!

Lesley said...

It must have been exciting to watch this arch being put into place!

Louis la Vache said...

Excellent, Lynette! Welcome to Sunday Bridges!
«Louis» not only knows exactly where this bridge is, but has been on it several times.
The new section of the Bay Bridge «Louis» showed is 20 years late - part of the old cantilever section behind the new part collapsed into the Bay in the October, 1989 earthquake. Not only is it late, it is more than $400,000,000 over budget, thanks on both counts to the wrangling that modern California politics has devolved to...

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Kim, USA said...

Wow this shot is awesome!

Bridge

Louis la Vache said...

It is ironic that sections of this bridge were made in California. Most of the replacement span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge were made in China and floated over. Part of the suspension tower was made in Japan. Once upon a time, California was the state that could get things done. Not anymore...

genie said...

This is quite a bridge...very different. Love the way you manipulated the image in Picnik. That program offers us so many options. Thanks for the info about the bridge. It is always interesting to learn something new. genie

Randy said...

Interesting post with a nice photo.

parker said...

Quite an engineering feat. Although they had some problems at the start, the final structure ended up being a nice looking bridge.

Martha Z said...

Very interesting. In today's economy I doubt the extra expense would be accepted but it's nice that money didn't stop the construction of this bridge.

Unknown said...

good shot of an arch bridge. just wished the cables dint come in the way...

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