Hawthorne Bridge

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Hawthorne Bridge
File:Hawthorne Bridge (Portland, Oregon) from southwest, 2012.jpg
Carries vehicles, pedestrians, cyclists
Crosses Willamette River
Locale Portland, Oregon
Maintained by Multnomah County
Characteristics
Design Truss with a vertical-lift span
Total length 1,382 ft (421 m)
Width 72 ft (22 m)
Longest span 244 ft (74 m)
Clearance below 49 ft (15 m) closed, 159 ft (48 m) open
History
Opened December 19, 1910 (1910-12-19)
Statistics
Daily traffic 30,000[1]
Hawthorne Bridge
Portland Historic Landmark[2]
Location Portland, Oregon; Willamette River at river mile 13.1
Coordinates Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
Built 1910
Architect Waddell & Harrington
MPS Willamette River Highway Bridges of Portland, Oregon
NRHP Reference # 12000932
Added to NRHP November 14, 2012[3]

The Hawthorne Bridge is a truss bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, joining Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street. It is the oldest vertical-lift bridge in operation in the United States[1] and the oldest highway bridge in Portland. It is also the busiest bicycle and transit bridge in Oregon, with over 8,000 cyclists[4] and 800 TriMet buses (carrying about 17,400 riders) daily.[1] It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 2012.[3][5]

Statistics

The bridge consists of five fixed spans and one 244 ft (74 m) long vertical-lift span. It is 1,382 feet (421 m) in total length. The 880,000 pound (400,000 kg) counterweights are suspended from the two 165 ft (50 m) tall towers.[1] While the river is at low level the bridge is 49 feet (15 m) above the water, causing it to be raised an average of 200 times per month. As of 2001, the average daily traffic was 30,500 vehicles. The bridge was designed by Waddell & Harrington, which also designed the Steel and Interstate bridges.[1] John Alexander Low Waddell invented the modern-day vertical-lift bridge.[1]

History

The current bridge was built to replace Madison Bridge No. 1 (1891) and Madison Bridge No. 2 (1900), which was destroyed by a fire in 1902. It cost $511,000 to build and was opened on December 19, 1910.[6] Hawthorne Boulevard (and thus the bridge) was named after Dr. J.C. Hawthorne, the cofounder of Oregon's first mental hospital and early proponent for the first Morrison Bridge.[1]

File:Hawthorne Br. west end, 1993.jpg
The bridge was yellow-ochre in color from 1964 to 1998.

The deck was changed from wood to steel grating in 1945. In 1985 the lift span sheaves, the grooved wheels that guide the counterweight cables, were replaced. The bridge went through a $22 million restoration from 1998–99, which included replacing the steel grated deck and repainting.[7] The original lead-based paint was completely removed and replaced with 3 layers of new paint that is estimated to last 30 years.[8] During this upgrade the sidewalks were widened to 10 feet (3 m), making it a thoroughfare for bicycle commuters. Due to the replacement of the steel deck during this project, the channels which used to carry the rails for streetcars and interurban trains were also removed. In 2001, the sidewalks were connected to the Eastbank Esplanade. In 2005, the estimated cost to replace the bridge was $189.3 million.[9]

The original color of the bridge was black, lasting until 1964, when it was repainted yellow ochre.[10] During the 1998-99 renovation, the color was changed to green with red trim.[1]

The 2003 film, The Hunted, included a scene set on MAX on the Hawthorne Bridge. Since MAX does not cross the bridge, the movie company connected two articulated buses remodeled to resemble a MAX train, complete with fake overhead lines and a sprinkler system to simulate rain.[11][12] Light-rail (interurban) service did cross the Hawthorne Bridge until 1956.[13]

The new deck put in place in the outer lanes during the 1998–99 renovation was designed to be strong enough for possible use by modern, heavier streetcars or light rail trains in the future,[14][15] which was proposed at that time,[14] and TriMet was still considering a Hawthorne Bridge routing for its future MAX Orange Line, to Milwaukie, in 2002.[16] However, following the transit agency's later decision to build the Tilikum Crossing for the Milwaukie MAX line, which bridge could also be used by the Portland Streetcar,[17] it became unlikely that rail cars will ever again cross the Hawthorne Bridge.

In August 2012, an automated bicycle counter was installed on the bridge, the first such counter to be installed in a U.S. city. It was purchased by the non-profit group Cycle Oregon and donated to the city.[18] The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places[19] in November 2012.[5]

Pop culture references

  • Elliott Smith mentions the Hawthorne Bridge in the song "I Can't Answer You Anymore."[20]

Gallery

  • Panoramic view from the southeast

  • From the Eastbank Esplanade

  • Hawthorne Bridge West.jpg

    Seen from the west

  • Cyclists waiting on Hawthorne Bridge during a lift.jpg

    Cyclists waiting during a bridge lift

  • Hawthorne Bridge from the southwest with lift span raised slightly.jpg

    Lift span being raised

  • Hawthorne Br. west end 2012 with drawbridge sign and other traffic signs.jpg

    Sidewalk view from the west

  • HawthorneBridgeAtNight.jpg

    The bridge at night

  • Hawthorne Bridge 0.jpg

    The bridge at night – panoramic view

  • Hawthorne Bridge pan - Portland, Oregon.jpg

    Panoramic view from south and west

See also

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 1.6 1.7 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found..
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ "Portland Voices: Bridge aficionado has answers about Hawthorne colors" (interview with author Sharon Wood). (April 3, 1997). The Oregonian, p. MP-2.
  11. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ "Work on [Morrison] Bridge Ramps to Bring Street Closure". The Oregonian, September 13, 1956, p. 1.
  14. ↑ 14.0 14.1 Stewart, Bill (July 31, 1997). "Streetcars will return to Portland/City will strengthen, repaint Hawthorne Bridge". The Oregonian, p. D1.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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