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SP - Willamette River Bridge (Old)

Linn County, Oregon, and Benton County, Oregon

Photos 

SP Willamette River Bridge (Old)

Replaced

Photo taken by Douglas Butler in November 2014

Enlarge

BH Photo #308679

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Lost Howe pony truss bridge over Willamette River on Southern Pacific RR
Location
Albany, Linn County, Oregon, and Benton County, Oregon
Status
Replaced by a new bridge
History
Built 1887; Replaced 1921
Railroads
- Corvallis & Eastern Railroad (C&E)
- Oregon Central & Eastern Railway (OC&E)
- Oregon Pacific Railroad (1880-94) (OP)
- Southern Pacific Railroad (SP)
Design
Howe pony truss cable stayed swing
Also called
Oregon Pacific
Approximate latitude, longitude
+44.64091, -123.09645   (decimal degrees)
44°38'27" N, 123°05'47" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
10/492350/4943065 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Albany
Inventory numbers
WGCB OR/37-02-37x (World Guide to Covered Bridges number)
WGCB OR-22-26x (World Guide to Covered Bridges number)
BH 64183 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

19th Century (8,346)
Albany, Oregon (7)
Benton County, Oregon (31)
Built 1887 (237)
Built during 1880s (2,165)
Center Pivot Swing Span (86)
Corvallis & Eastern Railroad (2)
Covered (1,928)
Covered Railroad Bridge (66)
Howe pony truss (80)
Howe truss (640)
Linn County, Oregon (61)
Lost (28,429)
Lost 1921 (42)
 Lost during 1920s (635)
Movable (3,114)
Navigable waterway (2,204)
Oregon (1,260)
Oregon Central & Eastern Railway (2)
Oregon Pacific Railroad (1880-94) (4)
Owned by railroad (13,494)
Pony truss (17,008)
Railroad (16,455)
Replaced by new bridge (19,334)
Southern Pacific Railroad (690)
Swing (1,561)
Truss (35,420)
Willamette River (61)

Update Log 

  • June 11, 2015: New photo from Luke
  • June 10, 2015: Updated by Luke: Edited infor per forumn comments, merged imagery
  • November 20, 2014: Added by Douglas Butler

Related Bridges 

Sources 

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Comments 

SP - Willamette River Bridge (Old)
Posted June 11, 2015, by Mike Goff (michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com)

How about that crazy guy standing at the top of the stay tower for the swing span? How did he even get up there?

Great information about an amazing structure long lost.

SP - Willamette River Bridge (Old)
Posted June 11, 2015, by Luke

Thanks for the imagery and historical info Scott.

SP - Willamette River Bridge (Old)
Posted June 11, 2015, by ArtS

Thank you!

SP - Willamette River Bridge (Old)
Posted June 11, 2015, by Scott Gavin (trainnut1956 [at] gmail [dot] com)

I made a typo in my comment. The bridge was constructed in 1887, not 1897. Like many other Oregon Pacific wooden truss bridges, portions of it were later covered to extend the lifespan of the bridge.

SP - Willamette River Bridge (Old)
Posted June 10, 2015, by Scott (trainnut1956 [at] gmail [dot] com)

By the way, here is the photograph that the person who did the sketch used, if you'd prefer to see the original.

SP - Willamette River Bridge (Old)
Posted June 10, 2015, by Scott Gavin (trainnut1956 [at] gmail [dot] com)

These photos courtesy Lloyd Palmer. If you want to gauge just how big the bridge was, compare the size of the timber in the picture with the size of the man standing near the front of the bridge.

SP - Willamette River Bridge (Old)
Posted June 10, 2015, by Scott Gavin (trannut1956 [at] gmail [dot] com)

The bridge was not a Southern Pacific bridge. It was built for the Oregon Pacific Railroad in 1897, and was replaced by the current steel bridge by the Southern Pacific Railroad. At the time of its construction, it was the largest bridge in Oregon.