Build a beautiful bridge.Byline: The Register-Guard As it plans a new freeway bridge 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. between Eugene and Springfield, the Oregon Department of Transportation should aim to build a structure that does more than get people from one side to the other. It should enhance the journey. ODOT ODOT Oregon Department of Transportation ODOT Ohio Department Of Transportation ODOT Oklahoma Department of Transportation shows signs of being aware of this opportunity. It has designated $10 million of the project's $180 million cost for "aesthetic" elements. That's a substantial sum, but then, the Interstate 5 bridge should be no ordinary crossing. It should mark the head of the 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 , and the state's second-biggest metropolitan area, as a place to be, not a place to get through. In describing ODOT's plans, reporter Diane Dietz spoke with people who are worried that a separate budget for "aesthetics" implies that visually pleasing elements will be add-ons, rather than intrinsic to the design. ODOT certainly should not build an ordinary bridge, then spend $10 million attempting to disguise its ordinariness. It need not happen that way. Conde McCullough's bridges along U.S. Highway 101 are Oregon's best examples of beauty and function in bridge engineering and architecture. The reinforced concrete reinforced concrete Concrete in which steel is embedded in such a manner that the two materials act together in resisting forces. The reinforcing steel—rods, bars, or mesh—absorbs the tensile, shear, and sometimes the compressive stresses in a concrete arch bridges include art deco art deco (ärt dĕkō`; är dākō`, ärt) or art moderne (är môdĕrn`, ärt) ornamentation ornamentation In music, the addition of notes for expressive and aesthetic purposes. For example, a long note may be ornamented by repetition or by alternation with a neighboring note (“trill”); a skip to a nonadjacent note can be filled in with the intervening that complements the structures and harmonizes with the design. The same can be done with the I-5 bridge over the Willamette. Some of the world's most beutiful bridges have been built in recent years - the Millau viaduct in France, for instance, or the Rio-Antrio bridge in Greece. These bridges not only create connections but are graceful artworks in themselves. ODOT should strive to build one of those. |
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