The Umatilla Bridge is the collective name for a pair of

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 ...

s in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A '' compass rose'' is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west— ...

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 ...

, carrying

Interstate 82 Interstate 82 (I-82) is an Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States that travels through parts of Washington (state), Washington and Oregon. It runs from its northwestern terminus at I ...

/ U.S. Route 395 (I-82/US 395) across 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 ...

at the

Washington Washington most commonly refers to: * George Washington (1732–1799), the first president of the United States * Washington (state), a state in the Pacific Northwest of the United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A ...

–

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 ...

border. The older bridge opened in July 1955 and is a

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 ...

through truss 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 s ...

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

and carries southbound (east on I-82) traffic. Northbound traffic (west on I-82) and pedestrians travel on the newer

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of aggregate bound together with a fluid cement that cures to a solid over time. It is the second-most-used substance (after water), the most–widely used building material, and the most-manufactur ...

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its structural load, loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either si ...

, opened in 1988.

History

Construction

The old bridge was proposed by

Umatilla County Umatilla County () is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. The population of 81,826 ranks it as the 14th largest in Oregon, and largest in Eastern Oregon. Hermiston is the largest city in Umatilla County, but Pendleton remain ...

judge James H. Sturgis and known as "Sturgis' folly" initially. The construction upstream of

McNary Dam McNary Dam is a 1.4-mile (2.2-km) long concrete gravity run-of-the-river dam which spans the Columbia River. It joins Umatilla County, Oregon with Benton County, Washington, 292 miles (470 km) upriver from the mouth of the Columbia. It is ope ...

would create

Lake Wallula Lake Wallula is a reservoir on the Columbia River in the United States, between the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. It was created in 1954 with the construction of McNary Dam. It reaches from McNary Dam near the city of Umatilla, Oregon, to ...

and submerge the old Wallula Highway. In the interim, traffic was carried across the newly formed lake via

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

service, with 178,576 vehicles transported in 1951. The bridge was dedicated on July 15, 1955, by the governors of Oregon and Washington. The bridge was financed by $10 million worth of bonds and operated as a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

while under county ownership. The tolls were removed on August 30, 1974, and ownership of the bridge was transferred to the states of Oregon and Washington on November 1 of that year following the repayment of bonds. The

Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Establi ...

became the lead agency responsible for maintenance and operating the structure. The original span was considered for inclusion 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 ...

in the early 2000s.

Rehabilitation

In June 2017, work began on the rehabilitation of the older steel truss bridge. The bridge had been found to be structurally deficient by the

and required a two-stage project, beginning with the replacement of the bridge deck at a cost of $11 million. The eastbound bridge was closed and all traffic was moved to the newer westbound bridge, which was reduced to one lane per direction, until work was completed two years later. During the closure, a traffic jam from the August 21, 2017, solar eclipse caused mile-long backups approaching the Columbia River. The second project to repaint the steel truss structure is estimated to cost $40 million and is expected to be funded at a later date.

Description

It is a five-span continuous Warren through truss design. The configuration of the span is unusual in the fact that it takes advantage of a submerged island near the middle of the Columbia River. With its two spans, each constructed using the

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

method, this is the only bridge in Oregon having two spans constructed using that method.

References

External links

* Bridges completed in 1955 Bridges completed in 1988 Road bridges in Washington (state) Bridges over the Columbia River Bridges in Benton County, Washington Transportation buildings and structures in Umatilla County, Oregon Road bridges in Oregon U.S. Route 395 1955 establishments in Oregon 1955 establishments in Washington (state) 1988 establishments in Oregon 1988 establishments in Washington (state) Former toll bridges in Oregon Former toll bridges in Washington (state) Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Steel bridges in the United States Concrete bridges in the United States Cantilever bridges in the United States Arch bridges in the United States Warren truss bridges in the United States {{Washington-bridge-struct-stub