Hawthorne Bridge
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Hawthorne Bridge | |
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| Official name | Hawthorne Bridge |
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| Carries | vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists |
| Crosses | Willamette River |
| Locale | Portland, Oregon |
| Maintained by | Multnomah County |
| Design | truss with a vertical lift span |
| Longest span | 224 ft |
| Total length | 1,382 ft |
| Width | 72 ft |
| Clearance below | 49 ft closed, ? open |
| Opening date | December 19th, 1910 |
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The Hawthorne Bridge is a truss bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, joining Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street. It is the oldest vertical lift bridge in operation in the United States[1] and the oldest highway bridge in Portland. It is also the busiest bicycle and transit bridge in Oregon, with over 4,800 cyclists[2] and 750 TriMet buses daily.[3]
The bridge consists of five fixed spans and one 244 ft. long vertical lift span. It is 1,382 feet in total length. The 880,000 pound counterweights are suspended from the two 165 ft. tall towers. While the river is at low level the bridge is 49 feet above the water, causing it to be raised an average of 200 times per month. As of 2001 the average daily traffic is 30,500 vehicles. The bridge was designed by John Waddell, inventor of the vertical lift bridge and also designer of the Steel and Interstate bridges.
The current bridge was built to replace Madison Bridge No. 1 (1891) and Madison Bridge No. 2 (1900), which was destroyed by a fire in 1902. It cost $511,000 to build and was opened on December 19, 1910. [4]
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 restoration from 1998-99, which included replacing the steel grated deck and repainting.[5] The original lead-based paint was completely removed and replaced with 3 layers of new paint that is estimated to last 30 years.[6] During this upgrade the sidewalks were widened to 10 feet, 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. In 2001 the sidewalks were connected to the Eastbank Esplanade. The estimated cost to replace the bridge is $189.3 million. [3]
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.[7]
[edit] Gallery
 The bridge at night |
 seen from the west |
 Detail of a span during Bridge Pedal 2006 |
[edit] References
- ^ Regional Traffic Report. Portland Department of Transportation. Retrieved on 2006-11-05.
- ^ Bridge bike traffic up in '05. BikePortland.org. Retrieved on 2006-04-09.
- ^ a b Hawthorne Bridge Future Needs. Multnomah County. Retrieved on 2006-11-05.
- ^ Smith, Dwight A.; Norman, James B.; Dykman, Pieter T. (1989). Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon. Oregon Historical Society Press, 115. ISBN 0-87595-205-4.
- ^ Hawthorne Bridge Rehabilitation. David Evans and Associates, Inc.. Retrieved on 2006-11-05.
- ^ Hawthorne Bridge Painting. Multnomah County. Retrieved on 2006-11-09.
- ^ Wood, Sharon; Wortman, Ed (2006). The Portland Bridge Book (3rd Edition). Urban Adventure Press, 61-68. ISBN 0-9787365-1-6.
[edit] External links
- Multnomah County:Hawthorne Bridge
- Photo of the 1910 construction crew
- Hawthorne Bridge photos at portlandbridges.com
| Bridges in the metropolitan area of Portland, Oregon See also: Transportation in Portland, Oregon | |
| Across the Willamette River (north to south)
St. Johns Bridge - Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 5.1 - Fremont Bridge - Broadway Bridge - Steel Bridge - Burnside Bridge - Morrison Bridge - Hawthorne Bridge - Marquam Bridge - Ross Island Bridge - Sellwood Bridge - Lake Oswego Railroad Bridge - Abernethy Bridge - Oregon City Bridge |
|
| Across the Columbia River (west to east)
Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge 9.6 - Interstate Bridge - Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge |
| Crossings of the Willamette River | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Upstream Marquam Bridge  |
Hawthorne Bridge |
Downstream Morrison Bridge |
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