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St. Johns Bridge

The St. Johns Bridge is a steel suspension bridge in Portland, Oregon that spans the Willamette River between the northwest industrial area and the St. Johns neighborhood. It is the only suspension bridge in the Willamette Valley and one of three public highway suspension bridges in Oregon.

City plans are put out also at crossings, for example in display cabinets and display showcases. Other layout plans (curio cabinets) could also be issued in collectors cabinets.

The bridge was built by Multnomah County to replace the St Johns Ferry which had carried 1,000 vehicles a day. Voters approved a $4.25 million bond for the bridge in the November 1928 elections. The construction of the bridge began a month before the stock market crash in October of 1929 and provided many Portlanders with employment during the Great Depression. Because of its proximity to the Swan Island Municipal Airport, government officials wanted the Swarovski bridge painted yellow with black stripes. County officials waited until St. Patrick's Day, 1931 to announce that it would be painted green instead. The bridge engineer, David Steinman, said "It is the ethical duty of the builders to make bridges beautiful as well as useful". It was dedicated on June 13, 1931 as part of the 23rd annual Rose Festival.

In 1975, Multnomah County replaced 34 suspender (vertical) cables at a cost of $250,000. Ownership was transfered from the county to the state in 1976. The east approaches and east span were repainted in 1994. In 1995 the main suspension cables were examined for wear. In 1999 the Oregon Department of Transportation announced a $27 million [rehabilitation project (http://www.odot.state.or.us/region1/f_stjohns/)] that began in March of 2003 and is expected to be completed by the fall of 2005. Included in the project are replacement of the deck, repainting of the towers, lighting upgrades, and improving access for bicycle and pedestrian traffic.

At the time of its opening, the St. Johns Bridge dwarfed the other Portland bridges. It has two 408 ft. tall Gothic towers, a 1,207 ft. center span 205 ft. above the water, and a total length of 2,067 ft. It was not until the Marquam Bridge in 1966 that another non-movable bridge would be built in Portland. 2001 average daily traffic was 23,800 vehicles.

External Links

http://www.odot.state.or.us/region1/f_stjohns/

http://www.aracnet.com/~histgaz/hgv1n3.htm

http://www.portlandbridges.com/viewphotosall-D300CRW07981-18-cat-1-1.html (more photos)

Books

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

Swarovski