Bridgehunter.com | I-5 - Interstate Bridge (Northbound)

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Photos

Overview

Photo taken 1993 by Jet Lowe for the Historic American Engineering Record

Video

Interstate Bridge

Posted by Rovingrepairbot

Play video on YouTube

Map

Street Views

Facts

Overview: Vertical lift bridge over the Columbia River on northbound I-5 between Vancouver and Portland in Portland
Location: Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon, and Clark County, Washington
Status: Open to traffic
History: Built 1917, Main span modification 1958
Builders: - American Bridge Co. of New York (Steel Fabricator)
- Pacific Bridge Co. of Oakland, California (Contractor)
- Porter Brothers Co. (Contractor)
- Waddell & Harrington (Design Engineer)
Design: Vertical lift Parker through truss
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 531.0 ft.
Total length: 3,538.2 ft. (0.7 mi.)
Deck width: 38.1 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 15.5 ft.
Recognition: Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude: +45.61778, -122.67500 (decimal degrees)
45°37'04" N, 122°40'30" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 10/525338/5051632 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map: Portland
Inventory numbers: OR 01377A (Oregon Dept. of Transportation structure number)
BH 30106 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 05/2011): Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 18.5 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2010): 64,286

Update Log

April 1, 2011: New video from Kim Harvey
September 8, 2010: New Street View added by Michael Goff
January 21, 2009: New photos from Michael Goff
January 7, 2009: New photo from Michael Goff
July 17, 2008: New photos from Michael Goff
July 8, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff
August 18, 2006: Posted HAER photos

Related Bridges

Bridge of the Gods (Upstream) - Modern Glenn Jackson Bridge (I-205) between these structures
I-5 - Interstate Bridge (Southbound) (Downstream) - Side by side structures

Sources

HAER WA-86 - Vancouver-Portland Interstate Bridge
Wikipedia
Mike Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com
Columbia River Crossing - Information on the future of the Interstate Bridge
ODOT Tripcheck Camera - Live view from the top of the bridge
ODOT Tripcheck Camera - Live traffic camera of the northbound lanes
Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon - Dwight A. Smith, James B. Norman & Pieter T. Dykman, Oregon Historical Society Press, 1989
Bridges of Portland - Ray Bottenberg, Arcadia Publishing, 2007
The Portland Bridge Book - Sharon Wood Wortman, Oregon Historical Society Press, 2001
Kim Harvey
Final report: the Columbia River Interstate Bridge - 1917 Description and Construction History of Bridge With Photos

Comments

I-5 - Interstate Bridge

Posted April 6, 2011, by Michael Goff (michael [dot] goff [at] odot [dot] state [dot] or [dot] us)

The Interstate Bridge is operated and maintained by the Oregon Department of Transportation with half the funds for operation coming from Washington State Department of Transportation. If fact, one my uncles use to work on the ODOT maintenance and operation crew on the Interstate Bridge.

There has been a major study for the replacement of this bridge going on for numerous years, but no determination as to bridge type or a timeline has been made to date. I do believe the preferred alternative for the bridge is a deck truss structure, but that could have changed since I last checked out the project. Anyone interested can check out the progress of these studies and meetings by clicking on the link for the �Columbia River Crossing� at the bottom of the bridgehunter page.

At this point in time, I personally do not see this bridge getting replaced in the next 5 years. The feds, the two states, along with all of the local interests might get a project put together for construction around 10+ years out, but that is still optimistic after seeing how communication between all the interested parties has gone thus far.

I-5 - Interstate Bridge

Posted April 6, 2011, by Nathan Holth (form3 [at] historicbridges [dot] org)

This landmark bridge appears to be slated for demolition and replacement. Guess its more a Washington state bridge rather than an Oregon bridge. Washington State has been tearing out historic bridges like they are some form of weed taking over a garden. Anyway, I found an interesting 1917 discussion of this bridge with photos: http://books.google.com/books?id=NdENAAAAYAAJ&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0#v=onepage&q&f=false

I-5 - Interstate Bridge (Northbound)