Vista Avenue Viaduct
Facts
- Overview
- Concrete arch bridge over SW Jefferson on SW Vista Avenue in Portland
- Location
- Portland, Multnomah County, Oregon
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built in 1925 by Parker & Banfield
- Builders
- - Fred T. Fowler (Engineer/Architect)
- Parker & Banfield of Portland, Oregon (Contractor)
- Railroads
- - Portland Railway, Light & Power Co. (PRL&P)
- Streetcar
- Design
- Concrete deck arch
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 248.0 ft.
Total length: 548.9 ft.
Deck width: 37.4 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on April 26, 1984
- Also called
- Suicide Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +45.51889, -122.69750 (decimal degrees)
45°31'08" N, 122°41'51" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 10/523625/5040639 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Portland
- Average daily traffic (as of 2010)
- 8,993
- Inventory numbers
- NRHP 84003093 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 29893 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of September 2016)
- Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 53.5 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- April 5, 2018: New photos from Richard Doody
- November 18, 2016: New photos from Mike Garland
- November 16, 2016: New photos from Mike Garland
- March 12, 2014: Updated by Dave King: Added NRHP info, NRHP link & imported photos
- June 18, 2013: New photos from Mike Goff
- September 7, 2010: New Street View added by Michael Goff
- October 8, 2009: New photos from Michael Goff
- August 26, 2008: New photos from Michael Goff
- June 25, 2008: New photo from Michael Goff
- April 25, 2008: Updated by Max Johnson: Corrected "Date Built"
Sources
- James Baughn - webmaster [at] bridgehunter [dot] com
- 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
- Wikipedia - Vista Avenue Bridge
- NRHP Form
- Dave King - DKinghawkfan [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Mike Garland - Rapier342 [at] comcast [dot] net
- Richard Doody
Comments
The date for this bridge seems to have been a discussion in the past. I have done a little research on this structure and this is my conclusion on the topic.
The information plaque on the bridge states the bridge was built in 1925. This is the year the bridge was constructed, but the bridge did not open until early 1926.
The current bridge replaced an older structure that was built in 1903-04. This older bridge is probably the source of confusion for the date of the current bridge.
Vista Avenue bridge
LOCATION IS IN MULTNOMAH COUNTY
ORIGINAL NAME: Ford Street Bridge
OPENING DATE: 1904
NOTE: Original bridge parts were used to cross the canyon where present day Interstate highway I-5 is located. (AKA Terwilliger Curves )---This is a notorious location for traffic wrecks due to the curve configurations.
AKA "Suicide Bridge" for obvious reasons--
Several streetcar car wrecks occured on the bridge involving runaway Council Crest streetcars-
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/or/multnomah/vista-avenue/
This bridge's on-deck beauty has been RUINED by the addition of a hideous cyclone fence that even blocks the beautiful concrete benches that people could once sit on. The fence is NOT just on top of the railing, it extends in front of the railing down to the sidewalk. This cheap budget-style cyclone fence makes this bridge look like it belongs in an derelict industrial area of Detroit not in a nice city like Portland. If they wanted a suicide barrier or something they should have chosen something that doesn't look like garbage.