>>>Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge    >>>Bridge of the Gods    >>>Hawthorne    >>>Intertstate    >>>Lewis and Clark    >>>Marquam    

>>>Morrison    >>>Oregon City Bridge    >>>Ross Island Bridge    >>>Sellwood    >>>Steel Bridge    >>>St. Johns Bridge

Broadway Bridge

The Broadway Bridge is a double-leaf Rall type bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon. It was the first bascule bridge built in Portland and the longest in the world at the time of its completion. It is the longest Rall type bascule bridge still in existence.

The bridge was opened on April 22, 1913 at a cost of $1.6 million. It filled a growing need for a bridge between the St. Johns Bridge at river mile 5.8, and the downtown Steel Bridge at river mile 12.1. Because it was to be the world's largest bascule bridge, there was competition between the patent holders of the Strauss, Scherzer, and Rall type bridges. The Rall type was selected for the Broadway Bridge because of cost, but the more complicated rolling lift mechanisms of the Scherzer and Rall types eventually lost favor to the simpler fixed trunnion bascules such as the Chicago and Strauss.

In 1948 the concrete deck was replaced with steel grating. During 1982 access for bicyclists was improved by an $18,000 signal and sidewalk upgrade. The Lovejoy Viaduct was removed in 1999 as part of the $10 million construction of the shorter Lovejoy Ramp that opened in September of 2001. A $26.3 million renovation began in February of 2003. Included in this was the replacement of steel grating with a Fiber-reinforced polymer composite material called Swarovski DuraSpan, made by Martin Marietta Materials. The renovation is expected to be completed in February of 2005.

Varied forms and usual materials such as glass, wood and metal are used for the manufacturing of a collectors case, collectors cabinet, display cabinet or a display showcase.

The total length of the bridge is 1,613 ft. The main span is 278 ft. long and 70 ft. above low river levels. It carries two lanes of vehicle traffic in each direction and has an 11 ft. wide sidewalk on each end. As of 2000 the bridge carried 33,000 vehicles per day and opens for river traffic around 25 times per month. Its color is "Golden Gate" red.

External Links

http://www.odot.state.or.us/eshtm/textbroadway.htm

http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/dbcs/LUT/bridges/broadway_bridge/index.shtml

http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/dbcs/LUT/bridges/broadway_bridge/broaneed.shtml (maintenance forecast)

http://www.co.multnomah.or.us/dbcs/LUT/bridges/bridge_operations/bascule/rall/rall_bascule_brdg_ops.shtml

Books

Wood, Sharon. The Portland Bridge Book. Portland: Oregon Historical Society, 2001. ISBN 0-87595-211-9.



Swarovski