The Big Creek Bridge is a

bowstring arch bridge A tied-arch bridge is an arch bridge in which the outward horizontal forces of the arch(es) caused by tension at the arch ends to a foundation are countered by equal tension of its own gravity plus any element of the total deck structure such grea ...

that spans Big Creek on

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...

Lane County, Oregon Lane County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 382,971, making it the fourth-most populous county in Oregon. The county seat is Eugene. It is named in honor of Joseph Lane, Orego ...

. It was designed by

Conde McCullough Conde Balcom McCullough (May 30, 1887 – May 6, 1946) was an American civil engineer who is primarily known for designing many of Oregon's coastal bridges on U.S. Route 101. The native of South Dakota worked for the Oregon Department of Tr ...

and opened in 1931. The bridge has a total length of and contains one reinforced concrete tied arch, identical in design to Ten Mile Creek Bridge and Wilson River Bridge. The locations for all three bridges were similar in that the sandy foundations were not secure enough for the abutment piers required to relieve the lateral pressure of traditional arches. The flood levels of the rivers approached the road grade and ruled out the use of reinforced concrete girders. The corrosive salt air eliminated the practicality of steel

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

s. The design of the bridge was similar to the rainbow arch design patented by

James Barney Marsh James Barney Marsh (April 12, 1856June 26, 1936) was an American engineer and bridge designer. He patented a new design for arch bridges. Marsh gave Archie Alexander, the first African-American to graduate as an engineer from Iowa State Univers ...

. The bridge, along with the Ten Mile Creek Bridge and the Wilson River Bridge, was rehabilitated in 1996 to increase the overhead clearance and add a

cathodic protection Cathodic protection (CP; ) is a technique used to control the corrosion of a metal surface by making it the cathode of an electrochemical cell. A simple method of protection connects the metal to be protected to a more easily corroded "sacrific ...

system to protect the embedded steel reinforcement against the corrosive air. A project to replace the cathodic protection system began in February 2014.

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* Bridges completed in 1931 Through arch bridges in the United States Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon U.S. Route 101 National Register of Historic Places in Lane County, Oregon Bridges in Lane County, Oregon Tied arch bridges in the United States Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon Bridges by Conde McCullough 1931 establishments in Oregon Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Neoclassical architecture in Oregon Art Deco architecture in Oregon Concrete bridges in the United States {{UShighway-stub

See also

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