The Umatilla Bridge is the collective name for a pair of

bridge A bridge is a structure built to span a physical obstacle (such as a body of water, valley, road, or rail) without blocking the way underneath. It is constructed for the purpose of providing passage over the obstacle, which is usually somethi ...

s in the

northwest The points of the compass are a set of horizontal, radially arrayed compass directions (or azimuths) used in navigation and cartography. A compass rose is primarily composed of four cardinal directions—north, east, south, and west—each sep ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, carrying

Interstate 82 Interstate 82 (I-82) is an Interstate Highway in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States that travels through parts of Washington and Oregon. It runs from its northwestern terminus at I-90 in Ellensburg, Washington, to its southeaste ...

U.S. Route 395 U.S. Route 395 (US 395) is a U.S. Route in the western United States. The southern terminus of the route is in the Mojave Desert at Interstate 15 near Hesperia. The northern terminus is at the Canada–US border near Laurier, where the road be ...

(I-82/US 395) across 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 ...

at 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 ...

–

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 ...

border. The older bridge opened in July 1955 and is a

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

through truss 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 ...

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beam (structure), beams; however, large cantilever ...

and carries southbound (east on I-82) traffic. Northbound traffic (west on I-82) and pedestrians travel on the newer

concrete Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

arch bridge An arch bridge is a bridge with abutments at each end shaped as a curved arch. Arch bridges work by transferring the weight of the bridge and its loads partially into a horizontal thrust restrained by the abutments at either side. A viaduct ...

, opened in 1988.

History

Construction

The old bridge was proposed by

Umatilla County Umatilla County () is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the population was 80,075. Hermiston is the largest city in Umatilla County, but Pendleton remains the county seat. Umatilla County is part of ...

judge James H. Sturgis and known as "Sturgis' folly" initially. The construction upstream of McNary Dam would create

Lake Wallula Lake Wallula is a reservoir on the Columbia River in the United States, between the U.S. states of Washington and Oregon. It was created in 1954 with the construction of McNary Dam. It reaches from McNary Dam near the city of Umatilla, Oregon, to ...

and submerge the old Wallula Highway. In the interim, traffic was carried across the newly formed lake via

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

service, with 178,576 vehicles transported in 1951. The bridge was dedicated on July 15, 1955, by the governors of Oregon and Washington. The bridge was financed by $10 million worth of bonds and operated as a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or ''toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road. ...

while under county ownership. The tolls were removed on August 30, 1974, and ownership of the bridge was transferred to the states of Oregon and Washington on November 1 of that year following the repayment of bonds. The original span was considered for inclusion on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in the early 2000s.

Rehabilitation

On June 12, 2017, work began on the rehabilitation of the older steel truss bridge. The bridge had been found to be structurally deficient by the

Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Establi ...

. Two projects were proposed to repair the bridge. The first project involved repairing the bridge deck which involved shifting traffic off of the 1955 bridge onto the 1988 bridge at a cost of $9.5 million. This project is set to be completed in mid-June 2019 and traffic will once again travel on both of the bridges. The second project involves repainting the steel truss structure at an estimated cost of $40 million.

Description

It is a five-span continuous Warren through truss design. The configuration of the span is unusual in the fact that it takes advantage of a submerged island near the middle of the Columbia River. With its two spans, each constructed using the

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

method, this is the only bridge in Oregon having two spans constructed using that method.

References

External links

* Bridges completed in 1955 Bridges completed in 1988 Road bridges in Washington (state) Bridges over the Columbia River Bridges in Benton County, Washington Transportation buildings and structures in Umatilla County, Oregon Road bridges in Oregon U.S. Route 395 1955 establishments in Oregon 1955 establishments in Washington (state) 1988 establishments in Oregon 1988 establishments in Washington (state) Former toll bridges in Oregon Former toll bridges in Washington (state) Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Steel bridges in the United States Concrete bridges in the United States Cantilever bridges in the United States Arch bridges in the United States Warren truss bridges in the United States {{Washington-bridge-struct-stub