Van Buren Street Bridge
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The Van Buren Street Bridge is 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 ...
, steel motor vehicle bridge spanning 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 ...
at Corvallis in the U.S. state of
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 ...
. Opened in 1913, the black colored bridge was the first bridge across the river at Corvallis and is now the third oldest bridge across the river. Owned by the state and maintained by 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 ...
(ODOT), the long span is of a
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 ...
design and carries one lane of traffic of
Oregon Route 34 Oregon Route 34 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Oregon that runs between the city of Waldport on the Oregon Coast and the city of Lebanon in the western part of the state. OR 34 traverses the Alsea Highway No. 27 from Waldport ...
eastbound from Corvallis into neighboring Linn County. The bridge no longer is able to swing open.


History

About 1860 a ferry started crossing the Willamette River at Corvallis. Benton County legislators were able to secure approval to build a bridge at the site as early as 1889. Meanwhile, the county bought the ferry in 1902 and removed the crossing fee. Plans for the bridge across the river were created by Benton County in 1910, and in February 1911 the
Oregon Legislature The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon. The Legislative Assembly is bicameral, consisting of an upper and lower house: the Senate, whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the Ho ...
passed a bill that approved the plan to build the bridge. The county signed a contract with the Coast Bridge Company for the steel for a bridge in January 1912. Work began about June 1912 after a legal delay over funding was resolved, with Corvallis agreeing to pay a larger portion of the project. In November 1912, Corvallis residents passed a bond measure to allow for the city's portion of funding of the bridge. This vote was the first time women were allowed to vote in a Corvallis election. Construction was completed by the Coast Bridge Company on the project that would cost $70,000 to build. Andrew J. Porter was the designer of the span. Funds came from the city, Linn County, private donations, and the largest portion from Benton County. The span was completed in February 1913, with a dedication ceremony on March 11 attended by the mayors of Corvallis and Philomath, as well as the judges for Linn and Benton counties. Built as a vehicle crossing, the
Oregon Electric Railway The Oregon Electric Railway (OE) was an interurban railroad line in the U.S. state of Oregon that linked Portland to Eugene. Service from Portland to Salem began in January 1908. The Spokane, Portland and Seattle Railway purchased the system in ...
had tracks leading to the east side of the bridge shortly after the bridge opened. The road across the span was originally two-way, plus there was a sidewalk along the south side.The Van Buren Street Bridge. Benton County Historical Society. Sign in Riverfront Park, Corvallis, Oregon. On January 25, 1914, the span unexpectedly opened during a
windstorm A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm) ...
, and trapped a young man on the open swing span section until the bridge operators could row out to the center span and use the
turn-key A turnkey, a turnkey project, or a turnkey operation (also spelled turn-key) is a type of project that is constructed so that it can be sold to any buyer as a completed product. This is contrasted with build to order, where the constructor builds ...
to put the span back into proper position. The state took over ownership of the span in 1938. In June 1952, the span was opened for the first time in 25 years to allow an Army Corps of Engineers vessel to pass, and the span opened for the final time in October 1960. In the 1980s the swivel became inoperable. The bridge was nominated for listing 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 ...
about 2006. In March 2007, planned maintenance and re-painting began on the bridge, closing the bridge to traffic at times. The $2.5 million project was completed in October 2007.


Replacement plans

In the 1990s 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 ...
proposed options for replacing the bridge in order to alleviate traffic problems in downtown Corvallis. Funding was never secured and the project was dropped in 1993, but the plans were revived in 2004. Plans included options to move the existing structure to a park, leave it in place, and build a new span that could be located in a variety of locations along the river in downtown. These options were narrowed to two in 2006, one adding a bridge parallel to the existing bridge and the other building a curved bridge between the old span and the Harrison Street Bridge. The existing structure would have remained in-place under both options, and costs were estimated at around $18 million. If a new bridge were built, the state originally said they would no longer own and maintain the old bridge, which was proposed to be used for
pedestrian A pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In modern times, the term usually refers to someone walking on a road or pavement, but this was not the case historically. The meaning of pedestrian is displayed with ...
s and bicycles. Linn County's Board of Commissioners supported tearing down the old bridge and simply replace it with a new wider span. In June 2006, ODOT decided to keep the existing span in addition to the new bridge. Additional studies began in 2007 to determine which of the options for replacement would work best for fixing traffic issues across the river. Options now included adding a bypass north to connect with
Oregon Route 99W 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 with ...
. By May 2009, ODOT had two proposals, one of which would not build a new bridge near the existing span. Both options included adding a northern bypass that would connect to
U.S. Route 20 U.S. Route 20 or U.S. Highway 20 (US 20) is an east–west United States Numbered Highway that stretches from the Pacific Northwest east to New England. The "0" in its route number indicates that US 20 is a major coast-to-coast route. S ...
and Oregon 99W. As of 2015 the plans for a new bridge had been set aside, with improvements to the south bypass and downtown exits for OR 34, OR 20, and 99 W intended to ease congestion instead. The future northern bypass is considered by planners to be a long term goal, as there is no schedule and none of the estimated $250 million cost has been budgeted.


Details

The bridge was the first bridge across 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 ...
at Corvallis. Carrying one lane of traffic eastbound, it connects Benton County on the west to Linn County on the east side of the Willamette. It carries
Oregon Route 34 Oregon Route 34 is a state highway in the U.S. state of Oregon that runs between the city of Waldport on the Oregon Coast and the city of Lebanon in the western part of the state. OR 34 traverses the Alsea Highway No. 27 from Waldport ...
out of downtown Corvallis, with the Harrison Street Bridge to the north carrying OR 34 into downtown. The single lane creates traffic problems at the evening
rush hour A rush hour (American English, British English) or peak hour (Australian English) is a part of the day during which traffic congestion on roads and crowding on public transport is at its highest. Normally, this happens twice every weekday: on ...
with three lanes of the highway narrowing to one lane to cross the bridge. A
swing bridge 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 ...
, its main -span could swivel on its
axis An axis (plural ''axes'') is an imaginary line around which an object rotates or is symmetrical. Axis may also refer to: Mathematics * Axis of rotation: see rotation around a fixed axis *Axis (mathematics), a designator for a Cartesian-coordinate ...
and open to allow river traffic to pass. This is accomplished by using a
turn key A turnkey, a turnkey project, or a turnkey operation (also spelled turn-key) is a type of project that is constructed so that it can be sold to any buyer as a completed product. This is contrasted with build to order, where the constructor builds ...
placed into the turning bolt and rotating the bolt. Six people would rotate the key using a long wood rod that combined resemble a
corkscrew A corkscrew is a tool for drawing corks from wine bottles and other household bottles that may be sealed with corks. In its traditional form, a corkscrew simply consists of a pointed metallic helix (often called the "worm") attached to a hand ...
. This would turn the wide gear that had 300 teeth along its circumference and the span would spin along 42 rollers constructed of steel. The operators could use two gears, one opened the span in 150 revolutions, while the other completed the job in 50 revolutions. When opened it provided of clearance on either side of the bridge. Van Buren Street Bridge is the last movable-span
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 ...
constructed by the pin connection method located on the
West Coast West Coast or west coast may refer to: Geography Australia * Western Australia *Regions of South Australia#Weather forecasting, West Coast of South Australia * West Coast, Tasmania **West Coast Range, mountain range in the region Canada * Britis ...
. Pins were used to connect the trusses, but the technique was abandoned after
rivet A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed, a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite to the head is called the ''tail''. On installation, the rivet is placed in a punched ...
s came into usage. The bridge is also one of only two swing style bridges left in
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 ...
used for vehicle traffic, and is the third oldest bridge across the Willamette after the
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 ...
and
Hawthorne Hawthorne often refers to the American writer Nathaniel Hawthorne. Hawthorne may also refer to: Places Australia *Hawthorne, Queensland, a suburb of Brisbane Canada * Hawthorne Village, Ontario, a suburb of Milton, Ontario United States * Hawt ...
bridges in
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 ...
. Overall, the bridge is long and is composed of three separate steel spans that rest on concrete piers. The swing span is a Pratt through truss, and the next longest part a long Parker through truss span on the western end. The eastern approach is a Warren
pony 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 s ...
that measures in length. There is also a long part on the far west end built of timber, which was originally a long steel pony truss. The bridge has of vertical clearance and is wide, which includes a sidewalk and a roadway.


See also

*
List of crossings of the Willamette River This is a list of bridges and other crossings of the Willamette River in the U.S. state of Oregon from the Columbia River upstream to the confluence of the Middle Fork Willamette River and Coast Fork Willamette River. This confluence, at , is co ...


References


External links


Oregon Department of Transportation
{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =
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 ...
, bridge = Van Buren Street Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream = Corvallis Bypass Bridge , upstream signs = / , downstream = Harrison Street Bridge , downstream signs= 1913 establishments in Oregon Buildings and structures in Corvallis, Oregon Bridges completed in 1913 Bridges in Benton County, Oregon Bridges over the Willamette River Road bridges in Oregon Swing bridges in Oregon Bridges in Linn County, Oregon Steel bridges in the United States Warren truss bridges in the United States Parker truss bridges in the United States Pratt truss bridges in the United States