The Oregon Trunk Rail Bridge or Celilo Bridge"Woman Christens Big Celilo Bridge"
(January 6, 1912). ''

The Morning Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 1850 ...

'', p. 10. is a single-track railroad

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 ...

opened in 1912 over 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 ...

in the

Pacific Northwest The Pacific Northwest (sometimes Cascadia, or simply abbreviated as PNW) is a geographic region in western North America bounded by its coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean to the west and, loosely, by the Rocky Mountains to the east. Though ...

of the

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 ...

. It consists of eight steel

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembl ...

spans and several deck girder spans, and since 1957 it has included a vertical-lift section. The bridge was designed by engineer Ralph Modjeski and erected by the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co., of Leavenworth, Kansas. It is part of the Wishram, Washington to

Bend, Oregon Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States. It is the principal city of the Bend Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, with a population of 99,178 at the time of the 2020 U.S ...

line of the

BNSF Railway BNSF Railway is one of the largest freight railroads in North America. One of seven North American Class I railroads, BNSF has 35,000 employees, of track in 28 states, and nearly 8,000 locomotives. It has three transcontinental routes that ...

(formerly the Oregon Trunk line of the

Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway The Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S) was a railroad in the northwest United States. Incorporated in 1905, it was a joint venture by the Great Northern Railway and the Northern Pacific Railway to build a railroad along the north bank o ...

). The bridge is downstream of the site of Celilo Falls, now submerged by water impounded by The Dalles Dam. The Celilo Canal passed beneath the southernmost span, which was a

swing span A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

. Completion of The Dalles Dam in 1957 inundated the canal. Over a period of several months starting in October 1956, the bridge was raised by up to over its entire length, and the truss span to the north of the swing span was modified to a vertical-lift-type span for river navigation. The new lift span's first complete raising and lowering took place on June 21, 1957, and the bridge reopened to rail traffic the following day."Celilo Span Again in Use" (June 28, 1957). ''

The Oregonian ''The Oregonian'' is a daily newspaper based in Portland, Oregon, United States, owned by Advance Publications. It is the oldest continuously published newspaper on the U.S. west coast, founded as a weekly by Thomas J. Dryer on December 4, 185 ...

'', p. 12. The swing span, to the south of the lift span, remains in place, but it ceased to be used after the lift span was installed. It was "permanently locked in place" in October 1956, for the start of work to modify the bridge."Bridge on Canal Set for Closure" (October 2, 1956). ''The Oregonian'', p. 12. All of the bridge's piers rest on rocks that were normally exposed during low water periods. During periods of high water, this stretch of the Columbia River became raging rapids, so the piers were built during low water. The north end of the bridge is a wye, where the rail line from Bend meets the BNSF

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 ...

to Pasco mainline. On the south end of the bridge, the line crosses over and interchanges with the Union Pacific mainline. Excluding the two branches at the north end, the bridge is long. The wye's east leg is long, and its west leg long. When built, the bridge's longest span was a fixed span located just to the north of the swing span; that section was later replaced by a lift span.

References

External links

1915 photo
in the Washington State History Museum's collection
Circa 1911 image
during bridge construction. {{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 = Oregon Trunk Rail bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Sam Hill Memorial Bridge The Sam Hill Memorial Bridge, also known as the Biggs Rapids Bridge, is a steel truss bridge in the Northwestern United States, northwest United States that carries U.S. Route 97, U.S. Route 97 (US 97) across the Columbia River between ...

, upstream signs = , downstream = The Dalles Dam , downstream signs = Railroad bridges in Oregon Railroad bridges in Washington (state) Bridges completed in 1912 Columbia River Gorge Vertical lift bridges in the United States Vertical lift bridges in Oregon Swing bridges in Oregon Towers in Washington (state) BNSF Railway bridges Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway Bridges over the Columbia River Transportation buildings and structures in Klickitat County, Washington Transportation buildings and structures in Wasco County, Oregon 1912 establishments in Oregon 1912 establishments in Washington (state) Steel bridges in the United States Pratt truss bridges in the United States

See also

References

External links