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Wapato Bridge
Coordinates	45°37′41″N 122°48′58″W / 45.628°N 122.816°W / 45.628; -122.816
Carries	Access from U.S. Route 30 to Sauvie Island.
Crosses	Willamette River
Locale	Multnomah Channel
Official name	Sauvie Island Bridge
Characteristics
Total length	365 meters (1,198 feet)
Width	8 meters (26 feet)
Longest span	457.2 meters (1,500 feet)
History
Opened	December 30, 1950
Location

The Sauvie Island Bridge crosses the Multnomah Channel of the Willamette River near Portland, Oregon, United States. The steel truss bridge, which is 1,500 feet (460 m) long, was built in 1950. It is currently being replaced by a new bridge.

Old bridge

Opened on December 30 1950, the first bridge to Sauvie Island replaced the Sauvie Island Ferry. The $900,000 bridge was designed by the State Highway Department and built by Gilpin Construction. Oregon transferred ownership to Multnomah County in 1951. Composed of three steel truss spans, it was a total of 1,198 feet long, with the main span measuring 200 feet in length. The approach spans were built of reinforced concrete girders. Green in color, the bridge was 41 feet wide and carried two lanes of traffic and had sidewalks on both sides. The main span, which was a Parker through truss, sat 80 feet above the water line and handled an average of 3,800 vehicles per day.

New bridge

After cracks were found in the 1950 span in 2001, the owners (Multnomah County) restricted weight and speed on the bridge. Early designs for a new bridge were submitted in July 2004, and groundbreaking was held on January 4 2006. The new 38 million dollar span was designed by H2L2 Architecture with David Evans & Associates as the design engineers, and built by Max J. Kuney Company. Located at river mile three, the main span is 360 feet long and rests 80 feet above the water. The main span is of a tied-arch design constructed of steel, while the approach spans are a box-girder style using pre-stressed concrete. The bridge has two lanes of traffic with shoulders and sidewalks on both sides for a total width of 66 feet.

In March, 2006, Portland city commissioner Sam Adams proposed reusing the Sauvie Island bridge span as a bicycle/pedestrian bridge over Interstate 405 in downtown Portland, as part of the Burnside/Couch Transportation and Urban Design Plan. A coalition of Portland community groups including the Pearl District Neighborhood Association and the Bicycle Transportation Alliance have supported the idea. Adams ultimately retracted the proposal.

References

1. ^ Wortman, Sharon Wood, Ed Wortman, and James B. Norman. 2006. The Portland Bridge Book. Portland, OR: Urban Adventure Press. ISBN 9780978736514. pp. 102-104.
2. "Is the Sauvie Island Bridge Worth Saving?", CommissionerSam.com
3. "Pearl wants Sauvie Bridge" by Andy Giegerich, Portland Business Journal, July 20, 2007
4. Maus, Jonathan. ""With a heavy heart" Adams explains Sauvie decision". BikePortland.org.

See also

• List of crossings of the Willamette River

External links

• Special Coverage of the Flanders Street Bridge Project - BikePortland.org

• Bridges in Oregon
• Bridges completed in 1950
• Tied arch bridges