Bridge design: Aim high.Byline: The Register-Guard A temporary bridge to carry Interstate 5 traffic across the Willamette River Willamette River River, northwestern Oregon, U.S. It flows north for 300 mi (485 km) into the Columbia River near Portland. Oregon's most populous cities are in its valley. The Fremont Bridge, a steel arch with a main span of 1,225 ft (373 m), crosses the river at Portland. has been completed ahead of time, earning the contractor a handsome bonus. It's an impressive structure, built with admirable efficiency as well as environmental sensitivity, but it won't appear on many postcards. As designers begin thinking about a permanent replacement, they should aspire to aspire to verb aim for, desire, pursue, hope for, long for, crave, seek out, wish for, dream about, yearn for, hunger for, hanker after, be eager for, set your heart on, set your sights on, be ambitious for build a bridge that is not only functional but beautiful. The temporary bridge is proof that architects and engineers can quickly install a bridge that gets cars and trucks from one riverbank to the other. Nothing more is demanded of the temporary structure. A permanent bridge, however, will be in place for half a century or longer. Its design presents a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to give the Willamette a distinctive crossing. It's a chance to create a landmark for the Eugene-Springfield area, one that conveys a sense that the southern Willamette Valley The Willamette Valley (pronounced [wɪˈlæ.mɪt], with the accent on the second syllable) is the region in northwest Oregon in the United States that surrounds the Willamette River as it proceeds northward from its is more than a place to get through on the way to somewhere else. Earlier generations of Oregonians saw similar opportunities and grasped them. Portland has some beautiful bridges across the Willamette River - including the steel suspension St. John's Bridge, designed by D.B. Steinman and built in 1931. Steinman designed the Golden Gate Bridge Golden Gate Bridge, across the Golden Gate from San Francisco to Marin Co., W Calif.; built 1933–37. Its overall length is 9,266 ft (2,824 m); its main span across the strait, 4,200 ft (1,280 m), is one of the longest bridges in the world. Joseph B. at the mouth of San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay, 50 mi (80 km) long and from 3 to 13 mi (4.8–21 km) wide, W Calif.; entered through the Golden Gate, a strait between two peninsulas. , but he regarded the St. John's Bridge as his best work. A golden age of bridge architecture coincided with the bridging of Oregon's bays and rivers, resulting in a string of pearls along Highway 101. Conde McCullough Conde Balcom McCullough (1887-1946) was a U.S. bridge engineer who is primarily known for designing many of Oregon's coastal bridges on U.S. Route 101.[1] The native of South Dakota worked for the Oregon Department of Transportation from 1919 to 1935 and 1937 until 1946. , the state bridge engineer from 1919 to 1935, designed many of them, combining engineering innovations with timeless aesthetic qualities. Most of McCullough's bridges, with their bowstring arches and art-deco concrete work, are still carrying traffic. Among the best examples are the bridges at Yaquina Bay Yaquina Bay (pronounced ya kwin na or, rarely, ya keen ah) is a small bay partially within Newport, Oregon, United States, located where the Yaquina River flows into the Pacific Ocean. Its area is about 8 km² (3.2 mi²). , the Siuslaw River The Siuslaw River (pronounced sigh YOU slaw) is a river, approximately 110 mi (177 km) long, along the Pacific coast of Oregon in the United States. It drains an area of approximately 4560 sq mi (11900 km²) in the Central Oregon Coast Range southwest of the Willamette and Coos Bay Coos Bay (k  s), city (1990 pop. 15,076), Coos co., SW Oreg., a port of entry on Coos Bay; founded 1854 as Marshfield, inc. 1874, renamed 1944. .
These bridges connect cities such as Florence and Coos Bay to the world, or one part of Portland to another, but that's not all they do. Steinman, McCullough and their associates built bridges that make their communities' most vital pieces of infrastructure into works of art. Standard freeway-style bridges would carry traffic just as well. But people in Portland and the state's coastal cities, and all who visit those places, would be poorer if Oregonians, in the depths of the Depression, had not aimed for a higher standard of bridge design. The I-5 bridge over the Willamette offers a new generation the chance to do the same. It's encouraging to learn that local government officials in the Eugene-Springfield area are interested in making the most of the opportunity, and that the Oregon Department of Transportation is receptive to the idea. At the ceremony to mark the completion of the temporary I-5 bridge, state project manager Jeffrey Payne noted the setting for the river crossing - with Eugene downstream, Springfield upriver and Autzen Stadium nearby. The eventual development of the Glenwood area will make the crossing even more of a gateway, particularly if freeway access can be improved. "It would be an awesome project to be involved with if it does become a showcase bridge," Payne said. Neither the state nor the Eugene-Springfield area should shortchange short·change tr.v. short·changed, short·chang·ing, short·chang·es 1. To give (someone) less change than is due in a transaction. 2. themselves, and millions of future travelers, by accepting anything less. |
|
||||||||||||||||
Printer friendly
Cite/link
Email
Feedback
Reader Opinion