Broadway Bridge (Portland)
| Broadway Bridge | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Carries | Vehicles, Portland Streetcar and pedestrians |
| Crosses | Willamette River |
| Locale | Portland, Oregon |
| Maintained by | Multnomah County |
| ID number | 06757 |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Truss with double-leaf Rall-type bascule lift span |
| Total length | 1,742 (531 m) |
| Width | 70 feet |
| Longest span | Fixed: 297 ft (91 m) Double-leaf bascule: 278 ft (85 m) |
| Clearance above | 13 feet (3.9 m) |
| Clearance below | 70 ft closed |
| History | |
| Designer | Ralph Modjeski |
| Opened |
April 22, 1913 |
|
Broadway Bridge
|
|
| Location | Portland, Oregon; Willamette River at river mile 11.7 |
| Coordinates | 45°31′55″N 122°40′26″W / 45.531816°N 122.673898°WCoordinates: 45°31′55″N 122°40′26″W / 45.531816°N 122.673898°W |
| MPS | Willamette River Highway Bridges of Portland, Oregon |
| NRHP Reference # | 12000930 |
| Added to NRHP | November 14, 2012 |
April 22, 1913
The Broadway Bridge is a Rall-type bascule bridge spanning the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, built in 1913. It was Portland's first bascule bridge, and it continues to hold the distinction of being the longest span of its bascule design type in the world. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 2012.
The bridge was anticipated to be the world's longest bascule bridge and there was competition between the Strauss, Scherzer, and Rall bascule design patent holders. The "Rall" was selected based on cost.
Ralph Modjeski designed the structure, which opened on April 22, 1913, at a cost of $1.6 million. It was the world's longest double-leaf bascule bridge, of any bascule type, at the time. The bridge's name derives from the street it carries, Broadway, but at the time of the bridge's construction that street name was in use only east of the river. The westside portion of what is now Broadway had been named 7th Avenue, but was renamed Broadway when the bridge opened and connected the two streets.
The bridge has four vehicle lanes (two lanes in each direction) that in 2006 carried about 30,000 vehicles per day. It is also a major bicycle route over the river with more than 2,000 crossings daily in 2005, and has a pair of 11-foot (3.4 m) wide sidewalks. On average, the bridge's draw span is opened about 25 times a month.
In 1927–28, a 2,000-foot (610 m)-long viaduct was built from the bridge's west deck, extending due west above Lovejoy Street to 14th Avenue, providing access to and from the bridge that had previously been blocked by railroad yards. This viaduct was known as the Lovejoy Ramp. A shorter ramp rising from Northwest 10th Avenue at Irving Street and connecting to the easternmost portion of the new Lovejoy viaduct was built in 1927, but not opened, due to delays to the start of work on the Lovejoy viaduct's western section (west of 10th), and did not open until October 1928. Construction of the long viaduct section from 10th to 14th began in mid-1928, and the viaduct opened in December 1928.
The bridge was originally black, in common with the nearby Steel and Hawthorne spans, but Portland architect Lewis Crutcher suggested in 1961 that each have its own distinct color. The Broadway Bridge was repainted "Golden Gate" red (also known as international orange) in 1963.
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Wikipedia