Armitage Bridge
Description, and Significance of Bridge
From National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form, 1980Physical Description
The Coburg Railroad Bridge spans the McKenzie River adjacent to the Armitage State Park alongside Coburg Road between Eugene and Coburg, Oregon. The bridge was fabricated in 1887 (company unknown) for the Oregon Railway and Navigation Company. The OR&N originally erected the bridge over the John Day River in north central Oregon. By 1907 the bridge had become obsolete at the John Day location and was acquired that year by the Southern Pacific Railroad Company. The Southern Pacific during this period, 1906-1907, was replacing most of its early wooden bridges with iron structures. The relocation of what was then the John Day Bridge to Coburg was carried out by the American Bridge Company. The iron Coburg Bridge replaced an earlier wooden structure of a significant span, built in 1891 at the same location over the McKenzie.
The overall form of the Coburg Bridge is that of a long trapezoid. The bridge, constructed of rolled iron members, is a double-intersection Pratt through truss structure. It is riveted and pin-connected throughout. The bridge has a single clear span of 405 feet. The large trapezoidal truss consists of 16 panels each 25 feet in length. The overall breadth measures 25 feet and its height measures 44 feet from the top of the rails to the top of the superstructure. The railroad clearances measure 16 feet 8 inches horizontally and 18 feet 7 inches vertically. The entire structure rests on concrete supports; at the eastern bank are two iron-clad concrete piers and at the western bank the bridge is supported by one large rectangular concrete abutment.
The vertical frames of the bridge are braced by a diamond lattice pattern that is riveted in place. The end frames are also braced in this manner and are capped with decorative railings and date plates. All major horizontal, vertical and diagonal members are pin connected.
The bridge has been painted the standard railroad black in past years. It has not seen a fresh coat of paint in many years however and the paint has long since deteriorated on most surfaces and only remains in areas of the bridge protected from the weather. The overall appearance is rusty, but since the bridge is constructed of wrought iron, the rust has stabilized, and the structure is in sound condition otherwise.
The current status of the line which the bridge serves is inactive, and abandonment status is being considered by the Southern Pacific. With the present inactivity of the line there has arisen a community effort to develop the line, including the bridge, into a community recreation corridor for walking, jogging, and bicycling.
Statement of Significance
The Coburg Railroad Bridge achieves significance as a rare survival of truss bridge construction. The particular type of construction, the double-intersection Pratt through truss, is noteworthy as it was used in the first all-iron truss bridge ever constructed. That first bridge was erected over the Mississippi River [sic] at Glasgow, Missouri in 1879. The bridge pioneered the use of iron and later steel in truss bridge design and construction. The pin-connected truss designs, of which there were several, quickly began to replace the earlier composition, lattice and girder structures, in. the 1870s. The new designs were to enjoy popularity over the following seventy years. The success of the design was due to at least three significant features: 1) the design reduced material and the number of members to a minimum necessary to carry the load. 2) manufacture and erection were greatly facilitated through the standardization of parts and assembly. 3) the life of the structure was increased while maintenance costs were reduced as a result of the use of iron. These three factors strongly reflect the ideals of industrialization during the Progressive Era of American History. The Coburg Railroad Bridge is one of the few remaining bridges of that era in the Pacific Northwest.
In addition to the construction type, additional details of particular note on the structure include diamond lattice bracing between all vertical frames, decorative head railings and date plates atop both entry frames.
The moving of the bridge in 1907 from the John Day River to the McKenzie River is a significant event. Apparently it was common practice amongst the frugal railroad companies of the time to move bridges rather than erect new ones continually. 1906-1907 saw the replacement of most of the wooden bridges and trestles on the Oregon lines with iron structures; several were moved from other locations both from inside the state and from other states as far away as Utah and Colorado. The covered wooden span that predated the present iron was one of the longest such structures ever built. It measured 380 feet overall and its main span was 260 feet.
The wooden structure built in 1891 was part of a spur line of the Springfield branch of the Southern Pacific which was intended in the early 90's for increased timber and agricultural production in the area. The replacement of the wooden structure in 1907 with the existing iron bridge became necessary to handle increased traffic and heavier loads.
Facts
- Overview
- Whipple through truss bridge over McKenzie River on Pedestrian Path in Coburg
- Location
- Coburg, Lane County, Oregon
- Status
- Open to pedestrians
- History
- Built 1887 at a different location, installed here in 1907;
- Builder
- - George S. Morison of New Bedford, Massachusetts (Engineer)
- Railroads
- - Oregon Railroad & Navigation Co. (OR&N)
- Southern Pacific Railroad (SP)
- Design
- Pin-connected Whipple through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 405.0 ft.
Total length: 485.0 ft.
Deck width: 16.8 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 18.7 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on March 13, 1980
- Also called
- SP - McKenzie River Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +44.11233, -123.04713 (decimal degrees)
44°06'44" N, 123°02'50" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 10/496228/4884350 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Eugene East
- Inventory numbers
- NRHP 80003332 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 36872 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- December 9, 2020: New photos from Mike Garland
- December 3, 2020: New photos from Mike Garland
- October 1, 2018: Updated by Nathan Holth: Removed uncertainty about engineer due to archived drawings at Smithsonian.
- April 15, 2018: New photos from Richard Doody
- April 9, 2018: New photos from Richard Doody
- October 6, 2014: Updated by Nathan Holth: Added likely designer.
- March 10, 2014: Updated by Dave King: Added NRHP info, imported photos
- August 29, 2011: Essay added by Nathan Holth
- August 3, 2010: New photos from Michael Goff
- April 20, 2010: New Street View added by Michael Goff
- July 16, 2008: Added by Michael Goff
Related Bridges
- Hayden Bridge (Upstream) - Two modern bridges between structures
- SP - Coburg Covered Bridge 37-20-45x (Predecessor)
- OR&N - John Day River Bridge (Old) (Parts reused from)
Sources
- Mike Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com
- National Register Nomination Form
- Nathan Holth
- Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Richard Doody
- George S. Morison Collection - Contains (not digitized) archived drawings of this bridge.
- Mike Garland - mustangmike [dot] garland [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
Back in Indiana now Mike, but indeed had a wonderful trip! Yes this bridge is a mammoth and must be seen in person to fully appreciate it. It was getting late by the time we made it into Salem so I decided not to bother you. Definitely intend to come back that way in a year or two and we will have to plan to meet up!
Tony,
I'm glad you took the time to check this bridge out. No picture ever does this truss justice. It really is huge.
I hope you're enjoying your west coast swing!
Mike
The most massive Whipple I have ever seen!
I think you are spot-on here Nathan...looks like a Morison job to me as well.
I noticed no builder or engineer is associated with this bridge. The truss style, in particular the distinctive portal bracing is identical or nearly identical to a number of bridges designed by engineer George S. Morison. http://www.bridgehunter.com/category/builder/george-s-moriso...
The description of the bridge does not include that this railroad was originally a narrow gauge railroad, and the bridge was replaced with the steel span when the line was upgraded to standard gauge.
Additionally, one commenter said the line ended at Brownsville, but this is not correct. The railroad originally started at Woodburn, proceeded south to West Stayton to Crabtree to Brownsville, Coburg and finally Springfield. Circa 1906, a flood destroyed the crossing over the South Santiam River, and the railroad line was routed to a new bridge crossing in east Lebanon.
In the mid-1980's, the Southern Pacific ceased service on the line between Coburg, Brownsville and a location called Tallman (between Lebanon and Albany), and the line was abandoned and removed. To this day, Interstate 5 rises over the former location of the line between Brownsville and Coburg.
A 380-foot timber truss is a monster. It is nice to finally see a photo of the original. Thanks again.
Michael,
One other goodie I found is a photo of the covered bridge which this truss bridge replaced. Its in Popular Mechanics http://books.google.com/books?id=_B_ZAAAAMAAJ&dq=Coburg%20Ra...
Thank your for the information on this one Nathan. I have not started studying this structure and it is nice to have a little help covering this part of the country.
This bridge is nationally significant as one of the only surviving examples of a large-span early generation metal railroad bridge. Large, multi-span bridges like this once crossed mighty rivers like the Mississippi River, but all are gone from those rivers.
I added an essay that copies the the majority of information from the nomination form. It has a decent discussion of the bridge. Hope that helps.
Hi!
I see that the Armitage Bridge, in Coburg, OR, will be 125 years old next year.
I was told that this bridge had been moved here in the 1930's.
Does anyone know any background history of the bridge?
I'm trying to get some people interested in celebrating it's birthday.
Thank you for your attention
Kathleen Major RN (Ret)
This is a massive and beautiful span!
This was a railroad bridge. The rail line (which is visible on Google Earth, a black line appears when you switch that layer on) which ran from Springfield up north and ended in Brownsville ran across it. The line was removed around 1985, from what I've heard. I-5 arcs over it at 44°18'53.30"N 123° 3'35.31"W. Most of the 'road' is still there, but the tracks have been removed.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/or/lane/armitage/
Walked it several times. I couldn't see over the railings to see the wonderful McKenzie River. The differences in 6 years and you can see why Hayden was moved from the transcontinental railroad in Corrine Utah because it was so light compared to Armitage