The Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge, or I-205 Bridge, is a

segmental bridge A segmental bridge is a bridge built in short sections (called segments), i.e., one piece at a time, as opposed to traditional methods that build a bridge in very large sections. The bridge is made of concrete that is either cast-in-place (constru ...

that spans the

Columbia River The Columbia River (Upper Chinook: ' or '; Sahaptin: ''Nch’i-Wàna'' or ''Nchi wana''; Sinixt dialect'' '') is the largest river in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. The river rises in the Rocky Mountains of British Columbia, C ...

between

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

Oregon Oregon () is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of it ...

and

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered on ...

. It carries

Interstate 205 Interstate 205 may refer to either of two unconnected Interstate Highways in the United States, both of which are related to Interstate 5 * Interstate 205 (California), a connector in the San Francisco Bay Area * Interstate 205 (Oregon–Washingt ...

, a freeway bypass of Portland, Oregon. The Glenn L

Planning for the structure began in earnest in 1964 when it was designated as part of the East Portland Freeway (later renamed Veteran's Memorial Freeway), Interstate 205. Construction began in August 1977. In order to avoid disrupting river traffic, the bridge was built one segment at a time. The segments, weighing upwards of 200 tons, were cast downstream and

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

d into place. The bridge was opened on December 15, 1982. The finished project cost was $169.6 million: $155.7 million from Federal funds, $4 million from

state funds and $9.9 million from

state funds. Three men died during its construction. The bridge was closed to traffic on May 15, 1983, for a one-day festival named "People's Day", where 125,000 pedestrians crossed the bridge. It is a twin structure with four lanes in each direction and a bicycle and pedestrian path in between. The bridge is long from the Washington side of the river to Government Island and another in length from Government Island to the Oregon side of the river. The main span, near the Washington side, is long with of vertical clearance at low river levels. The bridge was named for

Glenn Jackson Glenn L. Jackson (nickname "Mr. Oregon") (April 27, 1902 – June 20, 1980)Mosey, Ed (June 21, 1980). "Respected entrepreneur: Jackson guided industry, state leaders". ''The Oregonian'', p. A8. was a businessman in the U.S. state of Oregon, an ...

, the chairman of the

Oregon State Highway Commission The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway Depart ...

and later the Oregon Economic Development Commission. The average weekday traffic during 2019 was 166,152 vehicles. In 2020, ODOT and WSDOT began a one-year pilot project to allow C-Tran buses to use the shoulders of I-205 over the bridge in order to bypass congestion. No vehicle, bicycle or pedestrian access to Government Island is available from the bridge.

Multi-use path

multi-use path A shared-use path, mixed-use path or multi-use pathway is a path which is 'designed to accommodate the movement of pedestrians and cyclists'. Examples of shared-use paths include sidewalks designated as shared-use, bridleways and rail trails. A ...

for pedestrians and cyclists runs along the center of the bridge. This multi-use path connects to two

trailhead A trailhead is the point at which a trail begins, where the trail is often intended for hiking, biking, horseback riding, or off-road vehicles. Modern trailheads often contain rest rooms, maps, sign posts and distribution centers for information ...

s at each end of the bridge as well as the I-205 Trail through Portland. The path lacks access to Government Island.

References

External links

* {{Crossings navbox , structure =

Crossings Crossings may refer to: * ''Crossings'' (Buffy novel), a 2002 original novel based on the U.S. television series ''Buffy the Vampire Slayer'' * Crossings (game), a two-player abstract strategy board game invented by Robert Abbott * ''Crossings'' ...

, place =

, bridge = Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Bonneville Dam Bonneville Lock and Dam consists of several run-of-the-river dam structures that together complete a span of the Columbia River between the U.S. states of Oregon and Washington at River Mile 146.1. The dam is located east of Portland, Oregon, ...

, upstream signs = , downstream =

Interstate Bridge The Interstate Bridge (also Columbia River Interstate Bridge, I-5 Bridge, Portland-Vancouver Interstate Bridge, Vancouver-Portland Bridge) is a pair of nearly identical steel vertical-lift, Parker through-truss bridges that carry Interstate 5 ...

, downstream signs = Bridges completed in 1982

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Q ...

Bridges over the Columbia River Bridges in Vancouver, Washington Monuments and memorials in Oregon Monuments and memorials in Washington (state) Road bridges in Oregon Road bridges in Washington (state) Interstate 5 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System 1982 establishments in Oregon 1982 establishments in Washington (state) Concrete bridges in the United States Northeast Portland, Oregon

Multi-use path

See also

References

External links