Drift Creek Falls Suspension Bridge
Description
The 240 foot long bridge reaches from one wall to the canyon to the other, over 100 feet above the creek. The walkway surface is 3 feet wide. The bridge is supported by two 29 foot towers and anchored by bolts planted in rock on one side and in 29 cubic yards of concrete on the other.The bridge is dedicated to the late Scott Paul, a trail builder with the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest. Mr. Paul was the construction foreman on the early Forest Service portion of the construction. He died in a tragic rigging accident during construction in 1993. The bridge was completed by Sahale, a firm that specializes in trail bridge construction.
From Sahale's website: "Drift Creek Bridge is unusual for light pedestrian suspension bridges in that it incorporates a quasi-stiffening truss in the deck. The bridge is anchored in rock on one side of the gorge and concrete deadmen are used on the other. Numerous design changes were made by Sahale during the process of construction, including changes to the anchor systems, tower configuration, truss assembly, wind cable connections, and railing system. Materials, including concrete, were mobilized to the site via helicopter, and the mainspan was erected from a skyline, more than 100 feet above the canyon floor."
When you walk across the bridge, you can feel it sway. But engineers say it moves no more than 2 inches and is capable of supporting 165,000 pounds - more than the weight of two log trucks. Altogether, the project cost $225,000.
Facts
- Overview
- Wire suspension bridge over Drift Creek on Drift Creek Falls Trail 1378
- Location
- Lincoln County, Oregon
- Status
- Open to pedestrians only
- History
- Built 1997
- Builders
- - Sahale LLC of Lake Forest Park, Washington
- U.S. Forest Service of Washington, D.C.
- Design
- Wire/cable suspension
- Dimensions
-
Span length: 240.0 ft.
Total length: 240.0 ft.
Deck width: 3.0 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +44.93339, -123.85037 (decimal degrees)
44°56'00" N, 123°51'01" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 10/432899/4975902 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Stott Mountain
- Inventory number
- BH 75106 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- January 12, 2017: New photo from Mike Garland
- January 11, 2017: New photos from Mike Garland
- January 7, 2017: Added by Mike Garland
Comments
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