BNSF - Columbia River Bridge

Photos 

B.N.S.F. Railroad Bridge 9.6

from northeast

Photo taken by Michael Goff on January 21,2009

Enlarge

BH Photo #132515

Map 

Street Views 

Description 

This bridge and the Oregon Slough Bridge to the south were originally built as one continuous 6,467' bridge consisting of sixteen simple through truss spans and two swing truss spans totaling 4,273' and 2,194' of steel deck plate girder spans across Hayden Island. The Hayden Island viaduct was later replaced with fill, separating the bridge into north channel and south channel sections.

Facts 

Overview

Swing span through truss bridge over the Columbia River

Location

Vancouver, Clark County, Washington, and Multnomah County, Oregon

Status

Open to traffic

History

Built 1908

Builders

- American Bridge Co. of New York (Steel Fabricator)
- Kelly-Atkinson Construction Co. of Chicago, Illinois (Erectors)
- Ralph Modjeski of Bochnia, Poland (Engineer)

Railroads

- Amtrak (AMTK)
- Amtrak Cascades
- BNSF Railway (BNSF)
- Great Northern Railway (GN)
- Northern Pacific Railway (NP)
- Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SPS)
- Union Pacific Railroad (UP)

Design

Swing through truss

Dimensions

Length of largest span: 462.0 ft.
Total length: 2,808.2 ft. (0.5 mi.)
Deck width: 25.0 ft.

Also called

Columbia River Railroad Bridge
North Bank Bridge
BNSF Bridge 9.6

Approximate latitude, longitude

+45.62557, -122.69029   (decimal degrees)
45°37'32" N, 122°41'25" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

10/524142/5052493 (zone/easting/northing)

Quadrangle map:

Vancouver

Elevation

50 ft. above sea level

Inventory number

BH 34185 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Inspection report (as of April 1999)

Overall condition: Good
Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

Update Log 

• February 7, 2023: New photo from Mike Goff
• January 20, 2023: New photos from Patrick Gurwell
• May 28, 2022: Updated by Paul Plassman: Added that this and the Oregon Slough bridge were once connected as one long bridge
• May 26, 2022: New photos from Geoff Hubbs
• July 18, 2021: New photo from Carl Johnson
• April 26, 2021: New photo from Geoff Hubbs
• October 5, 2020: New photo from Henry Lombard-Hughes
• January 29, 2020: Updated by John Marvig: Added information from NP bridge records
• April 7, 2018: New photos from Richard Doody
• June 9, 2014: Updated by Luke Harden: Added "Kelly-Atkinson Construction Co. (Erector)" to builder's section
• January 12, 2014: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category "Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway"
• July 31, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Amtrak Cascades", "Amtrak"
• September 7, 2010: New Street View added by Michael Goff
• April 18, 2010: New photo from Nathan Morton
• January 21, 2009: New photo from Michael Goff
• November 24, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff: Updated Info.
• November 3, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff: Added Builders

Related Bridges 

• Lewis & Clark Bridge (Downstream)
• I-5 - Columbia River Bridge (SB) (Upstream)
• BNSF - Oregon Slough Bridge (Same project) - Originally built as a single bridge linked by girder spans across Hayden Island

Sources 

• Mike Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] hotmail [dot] com
• Nathan Morton - morton890 [at] yahoo [dot] com
• Bridges of Portland - Ray Bottenberg, Arcadia Publishing, 2007
• The Portland Bridge Book - Sharon Wood Wortman, Oregon Historical Society Press, 2001
• Wikipedia - B.N.S.F. Bridge 9.6
• Douglas Butler
• Luke
• The Spokesman Review June 12, 1912 - Newspaper Article
• Richard Doody
• John Marvig - marvigj27 [at] gmail [dot] com
• Henry Lombard-Hughes
• Geoff Hubbs
• Paul Plassman
• Proceedings of the American Society of Civil Engineers - American Society of Civil Engineers - Google Books - Page 289
• Patrick Gurwell - pgurwell [at] gmail [dot] com

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