The Hawthorne Bridge is a

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 ...

with a vertical lift that spans the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward ...

Portland, Oregon Portland ( ) is the List of cities in Oregon, most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon, located in the Pacific Northwest region. Situated close to northwest Oregon at the confluence of the Willamette River, Willamette and Columbia River, ...

, joining Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street. It is the oldest vertical-lift bridge in operation in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

and the oldest highway bridge in Portland. It is also the busiest

bicycle A bicycle, also called a pedal cycle, bike, push-bike or cycle, is a human-powered transport, human-powered or motorized bicycle, motor-assisted, bicycle pedal, pedal-driven, single-track vehicle, with two bicycle wheel, wheels attached to a ...

bridge in

Oregon Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...

, with over 8,000 cyclists and 800

TriMet The Tri-County Metropolitan Transportation District of Oregon (TriMet) is a Transit district, transit agency that serves most of the Oregon part of the Portland metropolitan area. Created in 1969 by the Oregon Legislative Assembly, Oregon legi ...

buses (carrying about 17,400 riders) daily. It was added to 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 ...

in November 2012.

Statistics

The bridge consists of five fixed spans and one vertical-lift span. It is in total length. The bridge was originally wide, including two five-foot sidewalks, but the sidewalks were widened to 10 feet in 1998, increasing the structure's overall width to . The counterweights are suspended from the two towers. It is operated by a pair of 150-horsepower motors. On average, the lift span is raised for river traffic 120 times per month. While the river is at low level, the bridge is above the water, causing it to be raised an average of 200 times per month. As of 2001, the average daily traffic was 30,500 vehicles. The bridge was designed by Waddell & Harrington, which also designed the

Steel Steel is an alloy of iron and carbon that demonstrates improved mechanical properties compared to the pure form of iron. Due to steel's high Young's modulus, elastic modulus, Yield (engineering), yield strength, Fracture, fracture strength a ...

and

Interstate The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National H ...

bridges. John Alexander Low Waddell invented the modern-day vertical-lift bridge.

History

The current bridge was built to replace the second

Madison Street Bridge Madison Street Bridge may refer to: *Madison Street Bridge (Chicago), a crossing of the Chicago River *Madison Street Bridge (Portland, Oregon), the name of two former bridges over the Willamette River {{Disambiguation ...

, a wooden bridge built in 1900. It cost $511,000 to build and was opened on December 19, 1910. Hawthorne Boulevard (and thus the bridge) was named after Dr. J.C. Hawthorne, the cofounder of Oregon's first mental hospital and early proponent for the first Morrison Bridge. The

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

tracks across the bridge were originally in the outer lanes, but were relocated to the center lanes in 1931. The deck was changed from wood to steel grating in 1945. In 1985, the lift span sheaves, the grooved wheels that guide the counterweight cables, were replaced. The bridge went through a $21 million renovation from 1998 to 1999, which included replacing the steel grated deck and repainting. The original lead-based paint was completely removed and replaced with 3 layers of new paint that is estimated to last 30 years. During this upgrade, the sidewalks were widened to , making it a thoroughfare for bicycle commuters. Due to the replacement of the steel deck during this project, the channels which used to carry the rails for streetcars and interurban trains were also removed. The bridge was closed for one year to permit the renovation to be carried out. The original color of the bridge was black, lasting until 1964, when it was repainted yellow-gold ochre. During the 1998–99 renovation, the color was changed to green with red trim. In 2001, the sidewalks were connected to the Eastbank Esplanade. In 2005, the estimated cost to replace the bridge was $189.3 million. The 2003 film, '' The Hunted'', included a scene set on

MAX Max or MAX may refer to: Animals * Max (American dog) (1983–2013), at one time purported to be the world's oldest living dog * Max (British dog), the first pet dog to win the PDSA Order of Merit (animal equivalent of the OBE) * Max (gorilla) ...

on the Hawthorne Bridge. Since MAX does not cross the bridge, the movie company connected two

articulated bus An articulated bus, also referred to as a slinky bus, bendy bus, tandem bus, vestibule bus, stretch bus, or an accordion bus, is an articulated vehicle, typically a motor bus or trolleybus, used in public transportation. It is usually a ...

es remodeled to resemble a MAX train, complete with fake

overhead lines An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, Electric multiple unit, electric multiple units, trolleybuses or trams. The generic term used by the International Union ...

and a sprinkler system to simulate rain. Light-rail (

interurban The interurban (or radial railway in Canada) is a type of electric railway, with tram-like electric self-propelled railcars which run within and between cities or towns. The term "interurban" is usually used in North America, with other terms u ...

) service did cross the Hawthorne Bridge until 1956. The new deck put in place in the outer lanes during the 1998–99 renovation was designed to be strong enough for possible use by modern, heavier

s or

light rail Light rail (or light rail transit, abbreviated to LRT) is a form of passenger urban rail transit that uses rolling stock derived from tram technology National Conference of the Transportation Research Board while also having some features from ...

trains in the future,Stewart, Bill (July 31, 1997). "Streetcars will return to Portland/City will strengthen, repaint Hawthorne Bridge". ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the West Coast of the United States, U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Tho ...

'', p. D1. which was proposed at that time, and

was still considering a Hawthorne Bridge routing for its future MAX Orange Line, to Milwaukie, in 2002. However, following the transit agency's later decision to build the Tilikum Crossing for the Milwaukie MAX line, which bridge could also be used by the

Portland Streetcar The Portland Streetcar is a streetcar system in Portland, Oregon, that opened in 2001 and serves areas surrounding downtown Portland. The NS Line runs from Northwest Portland to the South Waterfront via Downtown and the Pearl District. Th ...

, it became unlikely that rail cars will ever again cross the Hawthorne Bridge. The bridge was added to the

in November 2012.

Bicycle counter

In August 2012, an automated real-time bicycle counter was installed on the bridge, the first such counter to be installed in a U.S. city. It was purchased by the non-profit group Cycle Oregon for $20,000 and donated to the city. The city paid $5,000 for its installation. The millionth rider was counted in July 2013. The counter was broken in 2018 and has not been repaired; no data has been recorded since.

Pop culture references

Elliott Smith Steven Paul Smith (August 6, 1969 – October 21, 2003), known as Elliott Smith, was an American musician and singer-songwriter. He was born in Omaha, Nebraska, raised primarily in Texas, and lived much of his life in Portland, Oregon, whe ...

mentions the Hawthorne Bridge in the song "I Can't Answer You Anymore." * Portland composer, Jack Gabel, sampled tire whines and engine drones of vehicles crossing the bridge to make the musique concrète sound track for his 1987 Artquake/Bumbershoot installation, in collaboration with kinetic artist Bill Will and video artist Kurt Spak, titled AUTO-TOMY * The Hawthorne Bridge is mentioned in '' House Of Leaves'' by Mark Z. Danielewski at bottom of p. 508 during one of Johnny Truant's late journal entries. "Portland. Dusk. Walked under the Hawthorne bridge and sat by the

Gallery

File:HawthorneBridge-Pano.jpg, Panoramic view from the southeast File:Portland panorama3.jpg, From the Eastbank Esplanade File:Hawthorne Bridge West.jpg, Seen from the west File:Cyclists waiting on Hawthorne Bridge during a lift.jpg, Cyclists waiting during a bridge lift File:Hawthorne Bridge from the southwest with lift span raised slightly.jpg, Lift span being raised File:Hawthorne Br. west end 2012 with drawbridge sign and other traffic signs.jpg, Sidewalk view from the west in 2012 File:HawthorneBridgeAtNight.jpg, The bridge at night File:Hawthorne Bridge 0.jpg, The bridge at night – panoramic view File:Hawthorne Bridge pan - Portland, Oregon.jpg, Panoramic view from south and west File:Hawthorne Bridge bike counter, 2014.jpg, Bicycle counter in 2014

References

External links

Hawthorne Bridge
page on Multnomah County website *
Photo of the 1910 construction crew
* {{Tom McCall Waterfront Park Bridges in Portland, Oregon Vertical lift bridges in Oregon Bridges completed in 1910 Bridges over the Willamette River Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon National Register of Historic Places in Portland, Oregon Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon 1910 establishments in Oregon Buckman, Portland, Oregon Drawbridges on the National Register of Historic Places Southwest Portland, Oregon Hosford-Abernethy, Portland, Oregon Portland Historic Landmarks Tom McCall Waterfront Park Steel bridges in the United States Parker truss bridges in the United States