Benson Bridge
Description
Named after Oregon businessman Simon Benson who provided the money for its construction, this footbridge is situated 105' above the lower Multnomah Falls.Facts
- Overview
- Concrete arch bridge over Lower Multnomah Falls on a pedestrian trail
- Location
- Multnomah County, Oregon
- Status
- Open to pedestrians
- History
- Built 1914
- Builders
- - Karl P. Billner (Design Engineer)
- Pacific Bridge Co. of Portland, Oregon (Prime Contractor)
- Robert Lee Ringer (Sub-Contractor)
- Design
- The Benson Bridge is a reinforced concrete deck arch bridge over Multnomah Creek between the two tiers of Multnomah Falls on the Multnomah Fall – Larch Mountain Trail. The 52-foot long structure consists of a single 45-foot parabolic open spandrel barrel arch span. The design of the main span is unique for bridges designed in Oregon. The main arch is reinforced with a built-up steel lattice frame similar to a built-up truss member, rather than traditional tied steel reinforcing bar. The spandrel columns and the rest of the concrete in the structure utilized the traditional reinforcing bar for concrete reinforcement.
Topping each of the spandrel columns on the Benson Bridge is a half elliptical spandrel curtain wall. The spandrel curtain walls complement the main arch span and create a seamless transition between the superstructure and the bridge’s deck and railing.
The 3.5-foot open balustrade railing that was utilized on many of the early structures on the Historic Columbia River Highway is another key feature on the Benson Bridge. The top of the balusters have quarter elliptical arches coming from each side of the baluster. When the balusters are placed side by side they create a series of small arches just under the rail cap that also accent the parabolic main span.
The bridge features a 5.8-feet wide deck that carries the Multnomah Falls Trail over the 69-foot lower falls in route to a view point at the top of the 542-foot tall main falls. The trail also connects to other popular hiking trails in the Columbia River Gorge area.
The Benson Bridge was built as a supplemental part of the Historic Columbia River Highway project and designed by bridge designer Karl P. Billner under the guidance of Oregon State Bridge Engineer Charles H. Purcell and Assistant Highway Engineer Samuel Lancaster. The overall design lines and the architectural detailing is very similar to the nearby Shepperds Dell Bridge which was also designed by Billner and is located just a few miles west of Multnomah Falls. - Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 45.0 ft.
Total length: 52.0 ft.
Deck width: 5.8 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on April 22, 1981
- Also called
- Multnomah Falls Bridge
Benson Footbridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +45.57724, -122.11635 (decimal degrees)
45°34'38" N, 122°06'59" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 10/568942/5047457 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Multnomah Falls
- Inventory numbers
- NRHP 81000512 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 48289 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- May 4, 2018: New Street View added by Leslie R trick
- April 9, 2018: New photos from Richard Doody
- September 23, 2016: New Street View added by Dana and Kay Klein
- March 31, 2011: New photos from Michael Goff
- February 28, 2011: Updated by Michael Goff: Added design description
- February 28, 2011: New photo from Chris Patriarca
- February 28, 2011: New Street View added by Jason Smith
- February 27, 2011: Added by Chris Patriarca
Sources
- Chris P.
- Historic Columbia River Highway, Multnomah Falls Footbridge
- Jason Smith - flensburg [dot] bridgehunter [dot] av [at] googlemail [dot] com
- Mike Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com
- HAER OR-36-I - Historic Columbia River Highway, Multnomah Falls Footbridge, Spanning Multnomah Creek, Troutdale vicinity, Multnomah, OR
- Dana and Kay Klein
- Richard Doody
- Leslie R Trick - Leslie [dot] Trick [at] gmail [dot] com
Comments
They say they are going to be spending $319,000 to repair this bridge. Seems like a lot of money to replace a section of railing. This isn't one of those "repair" projects that actually means demolish and replace is it? Can anyone provide any insight into this project's scope of work?
http://www.opb.org/news/article/repairs-on-historic-benson-b...
A friend posted about this online and I see Mike Goff's comment below.
Here's another media article/coverage link.
http://www.kgw.com/home/Large-rock-falls-on-iconic-bridge-at...
http://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2014/01/rock_smashes_through_deck_hand.html#incart_river_default
This bridge suffered some fairly serious damage last night after a rock smashed through the deck and rail. Hopefully, the structural damage is minimal and repairs can be made.
WOW!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That bridge just takes my breath away and I would love to try and see that in person someday. Many thanks for sharing it with us. Just awesome.....
Thanks for the love guys as I am a new contributor here! It is an awesome spot and the way the bridge blends into the stunning natural setting is pretty awesome. I also uploaded a second picture from the opposite view as requested!
Sometimes it’s funny how things workout. I have been waiting a year to get my new camera and photograph this little bridge that was just outside my backdoor when I worked in Portland. I had photographed this little structure with my old camera, but the photos were junk.
I purchased my new camera last week and am headed to the Portland area in two weeks. I am planning on heading up the gorge and do a bunch of new shots. Just when I am finally going to get the photos of the falls and the Benson Bridge, bam someone else has done it.
Very nice work Chris, I'll have a hard time doing a better job with the side profile shot. I would love to see more photos if you have them.
Mike
This is one of the most beautiful photos I have ever seen.
WOW!....The Columbia River Gorge and it's waterfalls have been on the top of "Places to visit" list since I was a kid.
Might end up on my bucket list....but I'll get there someday!
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/or/multnomah/benson/
I found this:
http://www.hoodrivernews.com/news/2014/mar/22/usfs-aims-open...
It seems like they are going to repair and then do other things later and gave the contract to the same company for everything.
As you can see in the photo the impact hit right where the vertical railing pieces connected with/near the deck.
http://media.kgw.com/images/+multnomah+falls+benson02.jpg