The Oregon Trunk Rail Bridge or Celilo Bridge"Woman Christens Big Celilo Bridge"
(January 6, 1912). ''

The Morning 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 U.S. West Coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850 ...

'', p. 10. is a single-track railroad

bridge A bridge is a structure built to Span (engineering), span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or railway) without blocking the path underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, whi ...

opened in 1912 over 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 ...

in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (PNW; ) is a geographic region in Western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though no official boundary exists, the most common ...

of 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 ...

. It consists of eight steel

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

spans and several deck girder spans, and since 1957 it has included a vertical-lift section. The bridge was designed by engineer

Ralph Modjeski Ralph Modjeski (born Rudolf Modrzejewski; ; January 27, 1861 – June 26, 1940) was a Polish-American civil engineer who achieved prominence as "America's greatest bridge builder." He furthered the use of suspension bridges and oversaw the desig ...

and erected by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., of Leavenworth, Kansas. It is part of the

Wishram, Washington Wishram is an Unincorporated area#United States, unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Klickitat County, Washington, Klickitat County, Washington (state), Washington, United States. The population was 366 at the 2020 Unite ...

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in central Oregon and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is located to the east of the Cascade Range, on the Deschutes River. The site became known by pioneers as a ford (cros ...

line of the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is the largest freight railroad in the United States. One of six North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 36,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives. It has three Transcontinental railroad, transcontine ...

(formerly the

Oregon Trunk Line The Oregon Trunk Line is a railway line in Oregon and Washington operated by the BNSF Railway. It is a remnant of the Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway, running from Wishram, Washington in the north to a connection with the Union Pacific a ...

of the

Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S; ) was a railroad in the northwest United States. Incorporated in 1905, it was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank ...

). The bridge is downstream of the site of

Celilo Falls Celilo Falls (; , meaning "echo of falling water" or "sound of water upon the rocks," in several native languages) was a tribal fishing area on the Columbia River, just east of the Cascade Range, Cascade Mountains, on what is today the border bet ...

, now submerged by water impounded by

The Dalles Dam The Dalles Lock and Dam is a concrete-gravity run-of-the-river dam spanning the Columbia River, east of the city of The Dalles, Oregon, United States. It joins Wasco County, Oregon, with Klickitat County, Washington, upriver from the mouth o ...

. The

Celilo Canal Celilo Canal was a canal in Oregon connecting two points of the Columbia River, just east of The Dalles. In the natural state of the Columbia River, there was an stretch from The Dalles to Celilo Falls that was impassable upstream and navigabl ...

passed beneath the southernmost span, which was a swing span. Completion of The Dalles Dam in 1957 inundated the canal. Over a period of several months starting in October 1956, the bridge was raised by up to over its entire length, and the truss span to the north of the swing span was modified to a vertical-lift-type span for river navigation. The new lift span's first complete raising and lowering took place on June 21, 1957, and the bridge reopened to rail traffic the following day."Celilo Span Again in Use" (June 28, 1957). ''

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. 12. The swing span, to the south of the lift span, remains in place, but it ceased to be used after the lift span was installed. It was "permanently locked in place" in October 1956, for the start of work to modify the bridge."Bridge on Canal Set for Closure" (October 2, 1956). ''The Oregonian'', p. 12. All of the bridge's piers rest on rocks that were normally exposed during low water periods. During periods of high water, this stretch of the Columbia River became raging rapids, so the piers were built during low water. The north end of the bridge is a wye, where the rail line from Bend meets the BNSF

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: *Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon *Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine *Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel Portland may also r ...

to Pasco mainline. On the south end of the bridge, the line crosses over and interchanges with the

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad is a Class I freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Pacific is the second largest railroad in the United States after BNSF, ...

mainline. Excluding the two branches at the north end, the bridge is long. The wye's east leg is long, and its west leg long. When built, the bridge's longest span was a fixed span located just to the north of the swing span; that section was later replaced by a lift span.

References

External links

1915 photo
in the

Washington State History Museum The Washington State History Museum is a history museum located in downtown Tacoma, Washington, United States. It is operated by the Washington State Historical Society under the official approval of the Washington State Legislature. The mus ...

's collection
Circa 1911 image
during bridge construction. {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Oregon Trunk Rail bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Sam Hill Memorial Bridge The Sam Hill Memorial Bridge, also known as the Biggs Rapids Bridge, is a steel truss bridge in the northwest United States that carries U.S. Route 97 (US 97) across the Columbia River between Biggs Junction in Sherman County, Oregon, ...

, upstream signs = , downstream =

, downstream signs = 1912 establishments in Oregon 1912 establishments in Washington (state) BNSF Railway bridges Bridges completed in 1912 Bridges over the Columbia River Columbia River Gorge Pratt truss bridges in the United States Railroad bridges in Oregon Railroad bridges in Washington (state) Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Steel bridges in the United States Swing bridges in Oregon Transportation buildings and structures in Klickitat County, Washington Transportation buildings and structures in Wasco County, Oregon Vertical lift bridges in Oregon Vertical lift bridges in Washington (state)

See also

References

External links