Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Steel cantilevered through truss bridge over Coos Bay on US 101 in North Bend
- Location
- North Bend, Coos County, Oregon
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1936, Rehabilitation 2008
- Builders
- - American Bridge Co. of New York (Fabricator)
- Conde B. McCullough of Redfield, North Dakota (Lead Bridge Engineer)
- Dexter Smith (Design Engineer - Approach Spans)
- Hamilton Construction of Springfield, Oregon (2008-2011 South Approach Rehabilitation Contractor)
- Northwest Roads (Contractor)
- Raymond Archibald (Design Engineer - Cantilever Spans)
- Virginia Bridge & Iron Co. of Roanoke, Virginia (Contractor)
- Design
- The 5305-foot long Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge is a steel continuous cantilevered half-through truss with bracing above and below the deck. The cantilever design was adopted because high volumes of shipping made a draw span undesirable. Also, the wide shipping channel and high banks of both sides dictated a high-level bridge. The steel truss is 1708-feet long with the central portion being 793-feet and the anchor portions being 457.5-feet each. The top and bottom chords of the truss are curved in outline. The sway bracing is also curved, giving an impression of a series of Gothic arches as one travels through the truss.
Thirteen reinforced concrete deck arch spans with open spandrels flank the cantilevered spans, seven on the north side and six on the south side. The two lengths of arch approach spans total 2762-feet, with individual spans ranging from 151-feet to 265-feet in length. Reinforced concrete deck girder spans approach the arch spans. There are nine spans on the north end and five on the south. Ornate concrete abutments at each end of the bridge allow space along the road for travelers to pull over. The abutments also feature staircases that lead down under the bridge.
(HAER OR-46) - Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 793.0 ft.
Total length: 5,323.0 ft. (1.0 mi.)
Deck width: 27.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 16.9 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on August 5, 2005
- Also called
- Coos Bay Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +43.42652, -124.22224 (decimal degrees)
43°25'35" N, 124°13'20" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 10/401068/4808906 (zone/easting/northing)
- USGS topographic map
- North Bend
- Inventory numbers
- NRHP 05000817 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
OR 01823 (Oregon Dept. of Transportation structure number)
BH 29925 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection (as of 05/2011)
- Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 48.5 (out of 100) - Average daily traffic (as of 2010)
- 14,700
Update Log
- November 28, 2011: New photo from Michael Goff
- April 19, 2010: New Street View added by Michael Goff
- April 13, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
- August 4, 2009: New photos from Michael Goff
- April 19, 2009: Posted HAER photos
- July 30, 2008: New photos from Michael Goff
- July 14, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff
- June 12, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff
Sources
- Mike Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com
- ODOT Tripcheck Camera - Live traffic camera at the north end of the bridge
- HAER OR-46 - Coos Bay Bridge, Spanning Coos Bay on Oregon Coast Highway, North Bend, Coos County, OR
- Nathan Holth
- Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon - Dwight A. Smith, James B. Norman & Pieter T. Dykman, Oregon Historical Society Press, 1989
- Elegant Arches, Soaring Spans - Robert W. Hadlow, Oregon State University Press, 2001
- Bridges of the Oregon Coast - Ray Bottenberg, Arcadia Publishing, 2006
- Wikipedia - Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge
- Hamilton Construction - Rehabilitation Project Webpage
Comments
Elegant Arches,Soaring Spans is a really informative book and is a super memorial to a man who gave us such artwork in his engineering that he deserves a place in history,and this bridge is a wonderful memorial to him as well.
I have a cousin who has family in this area,and I will ask her to send me pictures.
Oregon isn't perfect with their historic bridges, but we take care of them better than many states.
Michael Goff's photography and work here documenting Oregon's bridges is AMAZING. Thank you for bringing so many of these places to life for everyone.
Mike
A thing of beauty....Indeed!
Who could get ever get tired of looking at this bridge?
The Conde B. McCullough Bridge is named in honor of the lead engineer. There are a couple of reasons for this...
1.The McCullough Legacy:
C.B. McCullough was the state bridge engineer for Oregon from 1919 to 1935. Under his watch many of the key spans on Oregon early highways were designed and constructed. His philosophy to bridge design was to make the structure fit the site in which it was being built, have the bridge be cost effective, and finally he emphasized building structures that were pleasing to the eye.
McCullough assisted in pioneering different design and construction methods in concrete arch construction, along with building a solid reputation for the Oregon Highway Department. The legacy he left still lives in the design and maintenance of Oregon Bridges (with the notable acceptation of the interstate system). Oregon is one of the leaders in historic bridge preservation along with creating innovative and eye pleasing structures to replace aging structures.
2.Final Bridge:
The Coos Bay crossing was the last and largest bridge McCullough designed while the state bridge engineer. The bridge also completed the Oregon portion of the Pacific Coast Highway. He accepted a post in Central America designing bridges on the Pan-American Highway in 1935 and had to leave the Oregon Highway Department.
There is a great book written by Robert Hadlow called
"Elegant Arches, Soaring Spans"
It is a biography about Conde McCullough, and the bridges he worked on.
I am impressed with how well Oregon takes care of their historic bridges. Many are shown in this website as being primarily in awsome shape. My homestate chooses the cutting torch then pouring concrete later instead of saving historic bridges. What a shame.
What a beautiful structure - I love the Art Deco details included. How did the lead designer and the bridge happen to have the same name?
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/or/coos/mccullough/