Gilkey Covered Bridge
Description
The Gilkey Bridge spans Thomas Creek and until 1960, it proudly stood next to a covered railroad bridge.Gilkey was once a town of some activity, as noted by a nearby sign: "Gilkey Station was established when the railroad arrived in 1880 and was named in honor of Allen and William Gilkey. Gilkey served as a shipping point for farm products." Just about all but the sign and the bridge are now gone, and the sign is totally faded.
The familiar swimming rope is tied to the framework of the bridge, and during the summer swimmers enjoy this area of Thomas Creek. Youngsters often grow tired of swinging on the rope and seek more excitement by climbing up to the roof and jumping into the cool water below.
In 1997, the bridge had to be closed due to damage caused by an overloaded vehicle. The load had overstressed the bridge and broke the timber shear keys in some of the lower chord joints. Temporary cables were installed to keep the bridge up under its own weight. Permanent repairs were designed and constructed in 1998 and the bridge was reopened to traffic.
(Reference: Roofs Over Rivers, by Bill and Nick Cockrell)
Facts
- Overview
- Covered Howe through truss bridge over Thomas Creek on Gilkey Road
- Location
- Linn County, Oregon
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1939
- Design
- Covered Howe through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 120.1 ft.
Total length: 201.1 ft.
Deck width: 17.4 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 11.7 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +44.68778, -122.90333 (decimal degrees)
44°41'16" N, 122°54'12" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 10/507660/4948271 (zone/easting/northing)
- USGS topographic map
- Crabtree
- Inventory numbers
- OR 12943 (Oregon Dept. of Transportation structure number)
BH 30077 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection (as of 11/2011)
- Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 26.9 (out of 100) - Average daily traffic (as of 2010)
- 250
Sources
- Mike Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon - Dwight A. Smith, James B. Norman & Pieter T. Dykman, Oregon Historical Society Press, 1989
- Gilkey Covered Bridge - Oregon Covered Bridge Guide
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/or/linn/12943062900107/