The Blue Bridge (officially named the Pioneer Memorial Bridge) is a four-lane arch-

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

connecting

Pasco, Washington Pasco ( ) is a city in, and the county seat of, Franklin County, Washington, United States. The population was 77,108 at the 2020 census, and estimated at 80,038 in 2023. Pasco is one of three cities (the others being Kennewick and Richland) t ...

Kennewick, Washington Kennewick () is a city in Benton County, Washington, Benton County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It is located along the southwest bank of the Columbia River, just southeast of the confluence of the Columbia and Yakima ...

. U.S. Route 395 crosses the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook language, Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin language, Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river headwater ...

via this bridge. The name comes from the

blue Blue is one of the three primary colours in the RYB color model, RYB colour model (traditional colour theory), as well as in the RGB color model, RGB (additive) colour model. It lies between Violet (color), violet and cyan on the optical spe ...

paint used on the truss superstructure, with white paint on the suspension beams. The bridge was painted green at time of construction (green being the state color of Washington). It is one of three bridges connecting Pasco to the other members of the Tri-Cities of Washington (Kennewick and Richland), along with the

Cable Bridge The Cable Bridge, officially called the Ed Hendler Bridge and sometimes called the Intercity Bridge, spans the Columbia River between Pasco, Washington, Pasco and Kennewick, Washington, Kennewick in southeastern Washington (state), Washington as ...

to the east and the Interstate 182 Bridge from Richland to the northwest.

History

The bridge was first proposed in 1949 as the previous bridge (commonly referred to as the " Green Bridge") was unable to handle the 10,000+ cars that were crossing it daily. Work on the bridge was begun on September 19, 1951. Work was completed in the summer of 1954 with a total cost of about $7.1 million. The bridge was dedicated without an official name on July 30, 1954. The "Pioneer Memorial Bridge" moniker was chosen in a radio contest in 1967, but locals used their own nicknames. After the bridge was repainted from green to blue, the "Blue Bridge" moniker became the most popular among Tri-City residents. A

United States flag The national flag of the United States, often referred to as the American flag or the U.S. flag, consists of thirteen horizontal Bar (heraldry), stripes, Variation of the field, alternating red and white, with a blue rectangle in the Canton ( ...

flies atop the bridge, which was added during the re-decking of the bridge in 1986 through a donation drive sponsored by the

Shriners Shriners International, formally known as the Ancient Arabic Order of the Nobles of the Mystic Shrine (AAONMS), is an American Masonic body, Masonic society. Founded in 1872 in New York City, it is headquartered in Tampa, Florida, and has over ...

. In 2002, the bridge was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

. During

rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English, Indian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice e ...

, the junction of U.S Route 395 and State Route 240 on the southbound side of the bridge is especially crowded. Late in 2005, it was announced that funding had been obtained in order to remedy the situation, by modifying the approaches and exits to the bridge, especially at the Highway 395 southbound exit on the Kennewick side of the bridge. This included constructing two

roundabout A roundabout, a rotary and a traffic circle are types of circular intersection or junction in which road traffic is permitted to flow in one direction around a central island, and priority is typically given to traffic already in the junct ...

s in place of the usual cloverleaf pattern. Construction began February 23 and was completed in October 2009. A year-long repainting and repair project lasted from January 2024 to January 2025, with traffic restrictions from February to December. The bridge was repainted in the same Air Force Blue color as before.

References

External links

* {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Blue Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream = Interstate 182 Bridge , upstream signs = , downstream =

, downstream signs = Bridges over the Columbia River Through arch bridges in the United States Truss bridges in the United States Tri-Cities, Washington Bridges completed in 1954 Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state) Bridges in Benton County, Washington Bridges in Franklin County, Washington Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System U.S. Route 395 National Register of Historic Places in Franklin County, Washington National Register of Historic Places in Benton County, Washington 1954 establishments in Washington (state) Concrete bridges in the United States Steel bridges in the United States