Rating:
1 vote

George Sellar Bridge

Chelan County, Washington, and Douglas County, Washington

Photos 

George Sellar Bridge

Side elevation from the Old Wenatchee Bridge upstream.

Photo taken by Mike Goff in June 2022

Enlarge

BH Photo #535431

Map 

Street View 

Description 

The bridge received the Award of Merit from the American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) as the “Most Beautiful Steel Bridge” in Class I in 1950.

Facts 

Overview
Steel arch and truss bridge over Columbia River on WA 285 in Wenatchee
Location
Wenatchee, Chelan County, Washington, and Douglas County, Washington
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1950
Builders
- General Construction Co. of Federal Way, Washington (Contractor)
- Ralph W. Finke of Olympia, Washington (Bridge Engineer - Design Phase)
Design
Steel through arch suspended span supported by cantilevered trusses.
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 480.0 ft.
Total length: 1,208.0 ft.
Deck width: 54.1 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 17.3 ft.
Recognition
Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on May 24, 1995
Also called
Columbia River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+47.40975, -120.29581   (decimal degrees)
47°24'35" N, 120°17'45" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
10/704004/5254245 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Wenatchee
Average daily traffic (as of 2016)
24,879
Inventory numbers
NRHP 95000623 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 36815 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of July 2018)
Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 60.3 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

AISC Award Winner (23)
Arch (12,727)
Award Winning (5)
Built 1950 (608)
Built during 1950s (4,048)
Cantilevered (309)
Chelan County, Washington (45)
Columbia River (43)
Douglas County, Washington (8)
Functionally obsolete (5,762)
General Construction Co. (13)
 Have street view (29,850)
NR-listed (3,015)
Open (41,199)
Owned by state (16,634)
Ralph W. Finke (7)
Span length 250-500 feet (1,283)
Steel through arch (222)
Total length 1000-2500 feet (2,021)
Washington (1,389)
Wenatchee, Washington (5)

Update Log 

  • July 3, 2022: New photos from Mike Goff
  • June 17, 2021: New photo from John Bernhisel
  • May 2, 2021: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
  • June 15, 2018: New photo from Leslie R trick
  • September 22, 2014: Updated by Nathan Holth: Revision of design details based on site visit and Historic Property Inventory Report.
  • December 14, 2010: New photos from Nathan Holth
  • September 30, 2010: Updated by Nathan Holth: Adjusted Design Category.
  • March 16, 2010: New photo from Nathan Holth
  • July 7, 2008: Added by Michael Goff

Related Bridges 

Sources 

  • Mike Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com
  • Nathan Holth
  • Leslie R Trick - Leslie [dot] Trick [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Geoff Hubbs
  • John Bernhisel - Johnmbernhisel [at] gmail [dot] com
Post a comment here

Comments 

George Sellar Bridge
Posted March 27, 2009, by Steven Featherkile (sfeatherkile [at] wildblue [dot] net)

This bridge won an award for the best designed bridge in 1950 from the National Architects and Engineers Society.