The Ross Island Bridge is a cantilever truss bridge that spans the

Willamette River The Willamette River ( ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River, accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem is long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward b ...

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 ...

. It carries

U.S. Route 26 U.S. Route 26 (US 26) is an east–west United States highway that runs from Seaside, Oregon to Ogallala, Nebraska. When the U.S. highway system was first defined, it was limited to Nebraska and Wyoming; by the 1950s, it continued into Idaho and ...

(

Mount Hood Highway The Mount Hood Highway No. 26 (see Oregon highways and routes) is the Oregon Department of Transportation's designation for a highway from Portland east around the south side of Mount Hood and north via Bennett Pass to Hood River. It is marked a ...

) across the river between southwest and southeast Portland. The bridge opened in 1926 and was designed by

Gustav Lindenthal Gustav Lindenthal (May 21, 1850 – July 31, 1935) was a civil engineer who designed the Queensboro and Hell Gate bridges in New York City, among other bridges. Lindenthal's work was greatly affected by his pursuit for perfection and his lo ...

and honors Oregon

pioneer Pioneer commonly refers to a settler who migrates to previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited land. In the United States pioneer commonly refers to an American pioneer, a person in American history who migrated west to join in settling and de ...

Sherry Ross Sherry Ross (born c. 1954) is an American sports broadcaster and journalist who most recently worked alongside Matt Loughlin as a color commentator for the NHL's New Jersey Devils radio broadcasts. She is the first woman to serve as an analyst ...

. It is named for its proximity to

Ross Island Ross Island is an island formed by four volcanoes in the Ross Sea near the continent of Antarctica, off the coast of Victoria Land in McMurdo Sound. Ross Island lies within the boundaries of Ross Dependency, an area of Antarctica claimed by New ...

. Although it looks like a

deck 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 ( ...

, it is a

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 ...

deck

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 ...

bridge, a rare type in Oregon.

History and description

The bridge was part of the unprecedented period of bridge building in Portland during the 1920s. It was opened on December 21, 1926, and cost $2 million to construct. The bridge was designed by a famous engineer named

. The bridge is named for its location close to

, an island in the Willamette River which measures about one-and-a-half by one mile. The bridge is about 800 feet (250 m) north of the island and does not connect with, nor does it provide access to, Ross Island. There is a

pedestrian walkway A sidewalk (North American English), pavement (British English), footpath in Australia, India, New Zealand and Ireland, or footway, is a path along the side of a street, highway, terminals. Usually constructed of concrete, pavers, brick, stone ...

on the north side of the bridge, with no barrier between the sidewalk and the westbound right lane. The bridge originally had sidewalks on both sides, but the one on the south side was removed in 1958, to provide more space for vehicles. A pedestrian underpass was built at SW Kelly Avenue and SW Naito Parkway in 1942 by the state of Oregon in conjunction with the Ross Island Bridge project. Ross Island Bridge wide view from SSE (2019)

Ross Island Bridge wide view from SSE (2019)

The bridge's girders were originally painted black, but in 1955–56 they were repainted green.Editorial (January 16, 1957). "Rainbows cost money". ''The Oregonian'', p. 14. In 1961, Portland architect Lewis Crutcher suggested repainting all of Portland's downtown-area bridges from black into different colors,Editorial (October 12, 1961). "'Singing' Bridges". ''The Oregonian'', p. 24. and the proposal also included changing the Ross Island Bridge's color to blue.Editorial (May 28, 1962). "Orange-Red Bridge". ''The Oregonian'', p. 16. The proposal was approved by the Multnomah County Commission, and repainting of the Ross Island Bridge was carried out in the summer of 1965. The bridge's color remains blue today, specifically " phthalo blue". During the

Great Depression The Great Depression (19291939) was an economic shock that impacted most countries across the world. It was a period of economic depression that became evident after a major fall in stock prices in the United States. The economic contagio ...

, the bank of the Willamette near the Ross Island Bridge became the site of a

Hooverville A "Hooverville" was a shanty town built during the Great Depression by the homeless in the United States. They were named after Herbert Hoover, who was President of the United States during the onset of the Depression and was widely blamed for it. ...

. In 1976, ownership was transferred from

Multnomah County Multnomah County is one of the 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2020 census, the county's population was 815,428. Multnomah County is part of the Portland–Vancouver– Hillsboro, OR–WA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Thou ...

to the

Oregon Department of Transportation 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 Depar ...

. In 2000–2001 the bridge underwent a $12.5 million renovation in which the deck was replaced, the railings were replaced and upgraded, and the drainage system and lighting were improved. During this renovation,

lead paint Lead paint or lead-based paint is paint containing lead. As pigment, lead(II) chromate (, "chrome yellow"), lead(II,IV) oxide, (, "red lead"), and lead(II) carbonate (, "white lead") are the most common forms.. Lead is added to paint to acceler ...

was discovered, causing some delays and cost overruns. In 2014, work began on a full repainting of the bridge, including removal of the old, lead-based paint and restoration of the bridge's blue color, which had faded since being applied, in 1965. The project was completed in early 2019.

Approaches

Ross Island Bridge viewed from Aerial Tram in 2008

West approach

The west end of the bridge has a full interchange with

Naito Parkway Naito Parkway is a major thoroughfare of Portland in the U.S. state of Oregon. It was formerly known as Front Avenue and Front Street and was renamed in 1996 to honor Bill Naito. It runs between SW Barbur Boulevard and NW Front Avenue, and adjac ...

(

Oregon Route 10 Oregon Route 10 is an Oregon state highway which serves Portland and some of its western suburbs. Route description OR 10 begins as Naito Parkway in Downtown Portland starting where Naito Parkway interchanges with U.S. Route 26. It heads sou ...

Pacific Highway West Oregon Route 99W is a state-numbered route in Oregon, United States, that runs from OR 99 and OR 99E in Junction City north to I-5 in southwestern Portland. Some signage continues it north to US 26 near downtown, but most signage agrees wit ...

), as well as access to and from Arthur Street, which carries US 26 towards Interstate 405. (Until around 2005, US 26 went north on Naito Parkway and through the south side of downtown Portland.) Access is also provided to and from the north end of

Oregon Route 43 Oregon Route 43 is an Oregon state highway that runs between the cities of Oregon City and Portland, mostly along the western flank of the Willamette River. While it is technically known by the Oregon Department of Transportation as the Osweg ...

(Macadam Avenue -

Oswego Highway Oswego may refer to: Places United States *Oswego, Illinois, a village in Kendall County *Oswego, Indiana, an unincorporated place in Kosciusko County *Oswego, Kansas, a city in Labette County * Oswego, Mississippi, an unincorporated community * ...

), which runs next to

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Califor ...

frontage road A frontage road (also known as an access road, outer road, service road, feeder road, or parallel road) is a local road running parallel to a higher-speed, limited-access road. A frontage road is often used to provide access to private drivew ...

s, and allows for access to and from I-5 via slip ramps and U-turns. The pedestrian walkway comes off the north side parallel to the ramp to Kelly Avenue (leading to Arthur Street), running to the intersection of Kelly Avenue and Porter Street.

East approach

Ross Island Bridge from Highway 99E in 2019

At the east end of the bridge, US 26 becomes Powell Boulevard as it passes over

Oregon Route 99E Oregon Route 99E is an Oregon state highway that runs between Junction City, Oregon and an interchange with I-5 just south of the Oregon/Washington border, in Portland. It, along with OR 99W, makes up a split of OR 99 in the northern part of th ...

( Pacific Highway East). Route 99E is a high-speed

arterial road An arterial road or arterial thoroughfare is a high-capacity urban road that sits below freeways/motorways on the road hierarchy in terms of traffic flow and speed. The primary function of an arterial road is to deliver traffic from collector ro ...

, built to near-

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

standards; just to the north it passes over a railroad on the twin Martin Luther King, Jr. Viaduct and Grand Avenue Viaduct. There is a direct ramp from US 26 east to Route 99E south, but no northbound access. Likewise, there is access from Route 99E north to the bridge (via Woodward Street and 8th Avenue), but traffic from Route 99E south must exit at Mill Street, about 1/2 mile (1 km) to the north, and head down Division Street, 11th Avenue and Milwaukie Avenue to US 26. This same movement is done to reach US 26 east; US 26 west however has direct access to Route 99E north via 9th Avenue and Woodward Street. A fourth direct ramp runs from Route 99E north to US 26 east. The pedestrian walkway simply becomes the north sidewalk of Powell Boulevard, a major street.

References

External links

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...