Astoria-Megler Bridge
Photos
Astoria-Megler Bridge
from the western Astoria waterfront
Photo taken by Michael Goff on August 1, 2009
BH Photo #144310
Facts
- Overview
- Continuous rigid-cantilever Warren through truss bridge over Columbia River on US 101 in Astoria
- Location
- Astoria, Clatsop County, Oregon, and Pacific County, Washington
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1966
- Builders
- - American Bridge Co. of New York (Steel Fabricator)
- Ben C. Gerwick Co. (Contractor - Desdemona Sands Viaduct Portion)
- DeLong Corporation (Prime Contractor)
- George Stevens (Bridge Engineer - Washington)
- Ivan D. Merchant (Bridge Engineer - Oregon)
- J.H. Pomeroy of San Francisco, California (Contractor - Desdemona Sands Viaduct Portion)
- Raymond International of Ontario, California. (Contractor)
- William A. Bugee (Project Engineer - Washington)
- Design
- Continuous fixed-cantilever Warren through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 1,232.0 ft.
Total length: 21,677.0 ft. (4.1 mi.)
Deck width: 27.9 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 17.2 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +46.19045, -123.84937 (decimal degrees)
46°11'26" N, 123°50'58" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 10/434457/5115558 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Astoria
- Elevation
- 0.0 ft. above sea level
- Average daily traffic (as of 2017)
- 22,400
- Inventory numbers
- OR 07949C (Oregon Dept. of Transportation structure number)
BH 29906 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of June 2018)
- Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 47.5 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- July 22, 2020: New photos from Patrick Gurwell
- July 15, 2020: New photo from Patrick Gurwell
- January 22, 2020: New photos from Mike Garland
- January 18, 2020: New photos from Mike Garland
- January 17, 2020: New photos from Mike Garland
- December 26, 2019: New photo from Mike Garland
- December 21, 2019: New photos from Mike Garland
- November 5, 2019: New photos from Mike Goff
- February 15, 2019: New photos from Mike Goff
- June 28, 2018: New photo from Mike Goff
- May 22, 2018: New Street View added by Leslie R Trick
- April 7, 2018: New photos from Richard Doody
- March 28, 2018: New photo from Richard Doody
- February 9, 2017: New photos from Mike Garland
- October 14, 2015: New photos from Mike Goff
- June 21, 2015: New photos from Mike Garland
- February 10, 2015: Photos imported by Dave King
- December 9, 2013: New photo from Mike Goff
- May 30, 2013: New photos from M. D. Caillet
- March 3, 2012: Updated by Nathan Holth: This is a cantilever not a basic continuous!
- January 18, 2012: New photo from Kelly Smith
- September 27, 2010: New photo from Nathan Holth
- August 13, 2010: New photos from Nathan Holth
- April 25, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
- August 10, 2009: New photo from Michael Goff
- August 5, 2009: New photos from Michael Goff
- April 20, 2009: Posted HAER photos
- November 5, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff
- September 30, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff
- September 29, 2008: Updated name and builders
- June 25, 2008: New photo from Michael Goff
Related Bridges
- Astoria-Megler Ferry (Predecessor)
- Julia Butler Hansen Bridge (Upstream) - One half of the river crossing from Cathlamet, WA to Westport, OR
Sources
- Mike Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com
- James Baughn - webmaster [at] bridgehunter [dot] com
- Wikipedia
- HAER OR-50 - Columbia River Gorge Bridge at Astoria, Spanning Columbia River at Oregon Coast Highway (U.S. Route 101), Astoria, Clatsop County, OR
- Nathan Holth
- K. A. Erickson
- ODOT Tripcheck Camera - Live camera facing the bridge
- ODOT Tripcheck Camera - Live traffic camera on the main span
- ODOT Tripcheck Camera - Live traffic camera look over the Desdemona Sands Viaduct
- US101: Astoria-Megler Bridge Solar Navigation Lights - ODOT Project Page
- Astoria Megler Bridge Painting - ODOT Project Page
- US101: Columbia River (Astoria-Megler) Bridge Painting - ODOT Project Page
- Kelly Smith
- Wikipedia - # 2
- American Bridge - Astoria-Megler Bridge Project Webpage
- Mike Garland - Rapier342 [at] comcast [dot] net
- Richard Doody
- Leslie R Trick - Leslie [dot] Trick [at] gmail [dot] com
- Patrick Gurwell - pgurwell [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
Once in a blue moon, the Astoria, OR side of this bridge is fogged in and you are certain you are on a bridge to nowhere when coming from Washington. It's spectacular and a bit scary.
It is amazing at the major films that were filmed there.
Brandon... yes it is, Astoria (and the bridge) is the setting for a number of movies. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astoria,_Oregon#In_popular_cul...
I keep thinking this is the bridge that could seen in Short Circuit and The Goonies in the background of few shots.
Restoration update:
Awesome bridge! I'm adding this one to my list of must-sees.
The Megler Spans of this bridge appear to be undergoing repairs and repainting. I added a few photos I found from Oregon DOT.
This bridge is so stunning it takes my breath away. It seems like it just drops right off into the water. Awesome.
J.R., Traveling down Oh 7, yes, would be a good idea. There are some historic spans. I did follow the Pomeroy bridge replacement. I agree, I missed getting the chance to visit the old truss there. I been across numerous historic bridges in the Ohio River region of my state. Many of those have been replaced. Here is some I recall:
The bridge over the Big Sandy river at Ceredo-Kenova, West Virginia was once a five span truss. Today it is a steel beam structure.
I passed under a still present monster of a railroad bridge not far from the Big Sandy.
Near West Virginia's Camden Park was a Parker truss over a creek.
Huntington W Va. has a modern continuous truss where an old cantileverer truss once stood.
Besides the mentioned bridges above there are or were many simple truss bridges in the area I crossed as a boy.
One more little tidbit. I hope the Ironton-Russell cantilever is preserved instead being blown up like the Pomeroy span. That is the bridge I see when I see my Grandmother Walker and my aunt Pam and uncle Ron.
Over all the bridges I admire and read about or cross, one has my heart..... Michigan's BIG MAC!!!
Todd, you need to go over to East Liverpool and follow Ohio 7 along the Ohio. While those bridges might not be as spectacular as the bridges in the Pacific Northwest, there are some amazing bridges over the Ohio River.
In fact, you might want to cross some of them before they're gone forever - you already missed the Pomeroy-Mason Bridge that went down last April.
An absolutely stunning structure!
Thanks for the cool pic Mike. The Astoria-Megler Bridge is a spectacular bridge I would love to check out if got a chance to visit the Pacific Northwest. I been reading about the numerous historic spans along Rt 101. A bridge fanatic like me would surely enjoy driving Rt 101. I live in northern Ohio and the neatest bridge close to me is Michigan's Mackinac Straits Bridge the one span that got me into bridges in the first place.
Todd,
Every time I have been down to Astoria/Megler the sun has not been in the favor of shooting from the Washington Side. I have a very hazy photo of the Washington end of the bridge. I'll post if for you.
Mike
This is a beautiful west coast bridge. So far on this site there is pics of the Astoria continuous truss only. I've read about this bridge and on the Megler side there are seven simple truss spans starting at the other end of the long trestle extending from the end of the high level Astoria trusses. I like to see the Megler trusses posted if possible.
It's more long than scary (about three miles), and it's a lot of fun to cross. This is an excellent photo, but it has to be seen in person.
Wow! That's a beauty - and I'll bet it's a white knuckler to drive across!
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/or/clatsop/astoria/
It wasn't fogged in last week, but still impressive none the less!