Burnside Bridge

{{For|the bridge in the American Civil War Battle of Antietam|Burnside's Bridge}}

{{Infobox bridge

|fetchwikidata=coordinates

|onlysourced=no

|name=Burnside Bridge

|image=BurnsideBridge.jpg

|carries=

|crosses=Willamette River

|locale=Portland, Oregon

|maint=Multnomah County

|id=02757

|design=Double-leaf "Strauss-type" bascule

|designer=Ira G. Hedrick;
Robert E. Kremers

|mainspan=Fixed: {{convert|268|ft|m|abbr=on}}
Double-leaf bascule: {{convert|252|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|length={{convert|1382|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|width={{convert|73.8|ft|m|abbr=on}}

|clearance=

|below={{convert|64|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} closed

|open=May 28, 1926
(replaced 1894 bridge)

{{Infobox NRHP

| embed = yes

| name =Burnside Bridge

| image =

| caption =

| nrhp_type =

| location= Portland, Oregon; Willamette River at river mile 12.7

| area =

| added = November 14, 2012

| mpsub=Willamette River Highway Bridges of Portland, Oregon

| refnum=12000931

}}

The Burnside Bridge is a 1926-built bascule bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, United States, carrying Burnside Street. It is the second bridge at the same site to carry that name. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in November 2012.{{cite web |url=https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/weekly-list-2012-national-register-of-historic-places.pdf |title=Weekly list of actions taken on properties: 11/13/12 through 11/16/12 |date=November 23, 2012 |publisher=National Park Service |access-date=September 30, 2013}}{{cite news |last=Tims |first=Dana |title=Four Multnomah County bridges listed on National Register of Historic Places |newspaper=The Oregonian |date=November 21, 2012 |page=B1 |url=http://www.oregonlive.com/portland/index.ssf/2012/11/four_multnomah_county_bridges.html |access-date=October 11, 2013}}

Design

The bridge was designed by Ira G. Hedrick[https://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FA0C12F73B5A157A93CBAB1789D95F438385F9&scp=1&sq=%22Ira%20Grant%20Hedrick%22&st=cse Ira Grant Hedrick, Designer of Bridges; Built the Burnside Lift Span at Portland, Ore.-Firm Did Work in Mexico-Dies at 69]. The New York Times. and Robert E. Kremers, incorporating a bascule lift mechanism designed by Joseph Strauss.{{cite book |last=Wood Wortman |first=Sharon |author2=Wortman, Ed |title=The Portland Bridge Book |edition=3rd |publisher=Urban Adventure Press |year=2006 |pages=45–52 |isbn=0-9787365-1-6}}

File:Burnside Bridge (south side) open.jpg

Including approaches, the Burnside has a total length of {{convert|2308|ft|m|abbr=on}} and a {{convert|251|ft|m|abbr=on}} center span. While lowered, this span is normally {{convert|64|ft|m|0|abbr=on}} above the river. The deck is made of concrete, which contributes to its being one of the heaviest bascule bridges in the United States. The counterweights, housed inside the two piers, weigh {{convert|1700|ST|LT t|0}}. The lifting is normally controlled by the Hawthorne Bridge operator, but an operator staffs the west tower during high river levels. As of 2005, the bridge opened for river traffic an average of 35 times a month.{{rp|47}}

The bridge provides shelter for the initially unauthorized Burnside Skatepark under the east end.{{cite web |publisher=Dreamland Skateparks |title=Portland's Burnside Skatepark |url=http://www.dreamlandskateparks.com/burnside/index.html |access-date=2006-11-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061108012452/http://www.dreamlandskateparks.com/burnside/index.html |archive-date=2006-11-08 |url-status=dead }} On weekends, the Portland Saturday Market was held mostly under the bridge's west end for many years. The market was reoriented in 2009, but the Burnside Bridge continues to provide shelter for a few vendor stalls at the market's northern end.

History

In 1891, Burnside Street was renamed from "B" street to take the name of Dan Wyman Burnside, a local businessman who was a proponent of the 1866 dredging of the Willamette River. Construction of the original Burnside Bridge began in November 1892, and the bridge opened on July 4, 1894.{{cite book |last=MacColl|first=E. Kimbark|title=The Shaping of a City: Business and Politics in Portland, Oregon, 1885 to 1915|chapter=Chapter 7 – A Community of Many Interests, 1891–1895|location=Portland, Oregon|publisher=The Georgian Press Company|year=1976|isbn=0-89174-043-0|page=154}} It was a swing-span truss bridge made of wrought iron and steel.{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=laTfY36RfY0C&pg=PA7|first=Ray|last=Bottenberg|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|date=2007|title=Bridges of Portland|page=7|isbn=978-0-7385-4876-0}}

The replacement was part of a $4.5 million bond that also included the construction of the Ross Island and Sellwood bridges. The public would later learn that the 1924 contract was given for $500,000 more than the lowest bid. Having moved the bridge location to profit by selling their land, three Multnomah County commissioners were recalled as a result of the scandal, and a new engineering company assumed control of the project. The Ku Klux Klan had backed the commissioners and enabled their system of kickbacks and grafts; the ensuing "rotten bridge scandal" removed much of their clout even by 1924.{{cite book | last=Chandler | first=J. D. | title=Murder & scandal in prohibition Portland : sex, vice & misdeeds in Mayor Baker's reign | publisher=The History Press | publication-place=Charleston, SC | year=2016 | isbn=978-1-4671-1953-5 | oclc=928581539 | page=110}}

Image:Burnside Bridge east tower.jpg

The bridge opened on May 28, 1926, at a final cost of $4.5 million (including approaches). It was the first Willamette River bridge in Portland designed with input from an architect.{{cite web |publisher=Multnomah County |title=Burnside Bridge |date=22 September 2010 |url=http://web.multco.us/bridges/burnside-bridge |access-date=May 20, 2013}} This led to the Italian Renaissance towers and decorative metal railings. The bascule system was designed by Joseph Strauss. The initial principal engineer for the bridge construction was the firm of Hedrick & Kremers. The bridge was then completed by Gustav Lindenthal,{{cite book |first1=Dwight A. |last1=Smith |last2=Norman |first2=James B. |author-link2=Norman, James B. |last3=Dykman |first3=Pieter T. |title=Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon |publisher=Oregon Historical Society Press |year=1989 |isbn=0-87595-205-4 |page=118}} who also supervised its construction.

Streetcars crossed the Burnside Bridge until 1950,Hatch, Tom (February 27, 1980). "End of lines 30 years ago: New 'trolleys' can't beat old ones". The Oregonian, p. D7. and electric trolleybuses serving the Sandy Blvd. route did so from 1936 to 1958.Sebree, Mac; and Ward, Paul (1974). The Trolley Coach in North America (Interurbans Special 59). Los Angeles: Interurbans. LCCN 74-20367. Currently, three TriMet bus routes use the bridge.

In the 1990s the Burnside Bridge was made a Regional Emergency Transportation Route, the one non-freeway bridge to be used by emergency vehicles. In 1995 one of the six lanes was removed to accommodate new bicycle lanes. From March until November 2002 the bridge underwent a $2.1 million seismic retrofit, making it the first bridge operated by Multnomah County to receive earthquake protection.

The bridge was under construction in 2006 in order to replace the deck.{{cite web |title=Burnside Bridge Span Rehabilitation |publisher=City of Portland |url=http://www.portlandonline.com/keepportlandmoving/index.cfm?c=41597&a=108893 |access-date=2006-10-05}} The electric streetcar tracks, abandoned in 1950, were visible during the construction. This project was budgeted at $9 million and the majority of the work was completed on December 9, 2007.{{cite news |last=Redden |first=Jim |newspaper=Portland Tribune |title=County gears up to do bridge work |date=December 13, 2005 |url=http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=33021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929083510/http://www.portlandtribune.com/news/story.php?story_id=33021 |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |url-status=dead |access-date=2020-07-01}}{{cite web |url=http://www2.co.multnomah.or.us/Public/EntryPoint?ct=58ba46f82b6d9010VgnVCM1000003bc614acRCRD |title=Burnside Bridge Lift Span Rehabilitation |publisher=Multnomah County |access-date=2008-04-05 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070526202331/http://www2.co.multnomah.or.us/Public/EntryPoint?ct=58ba46f82b6d9010VgnVCM1000003bc614acRCRD |archive-date=2007-05-26 |url-status=dead }} The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places{{cite news |last=Harden |first=Kevin |title=Four downtown bridges earn historic honors |url=http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/123569-four-downtown-bridges-earn-historic-honors |access-date=November 20, 2012 |newspaper=Portland Tribune |date=November 20, 2012 |orig-year=re-dated November 19 later|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131115085828/http://portlandtribune.com/pt/9-news/123569-four-downtown-bridges-earn-historic-honors|

archive-date=November 15, 2013|url-status=dead}} in November 2012.

Image:Burnside Skatepark Portland, Oregon.JPG]]

The Eastbank Esplanade, which opened in 2001, is connected to the bridge by stairs added during the esplanade's construction. However, because of the bridge's age, it cannot support any extra weight, so the stairways must be supported by separate pilings.{{cite web |title=Eastbank Esplanade |url=http://www.portlandoregon.gov/parks/finder/index.cfm?&propertyid=105&action=ViewPark |website=The City of Portland |access-date=5 November 2015}}

In 2020, the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge project deemed that the current short-span bridge would not survive a major earthquake, and recommended a replacement long-span bridge.{{cite web|title=Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge|date=2020|publisher=Multnomah County|url=https://multco.us/earthquake-ready-burnside-bridge|access-date=2021-07-01}} Early concepts for the new bridge included designs that resembled nearby Willamette River bridges;{{cite news |last=Theen |first=Andrew |date=August 4, 2020 |title=New Burnside Bridge could look like a combination of nearby Willamette River bridges |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2020/08/new-burnside-bridge-could-look-like-a-combination-of-nearby-willamette-river-bridges.html |work=The Oregonian |access-date=July 27, 2022}} the six finalists, organized into cable-stayed and tied-arch designs, were presented for a public vote in July 2024. The replacement is estimated to cost $895 million and would begin construction in 2026; it is scheduled to open by 2031.{{cite news |last=Rogoway |first=Mike |date=July 2, 2024 |title=Vote on the design for Portland's new $895 million Burnside Bridge |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/news/2024/07/895-million-burnside-bridge-design-up-for-public-vote.html |work=The Oregonian |accessdate=July 3, 2024}}{{cite news |last=Ramakrishnan |first=Jayati |date=January 25, 2022 |title=Task force signs off on Burnside Bridge replacement with one less lane, other cost-cutting measures |url=https://www.oregonlive.com/commuting/2022/01/task-force-signs-off-on-burnside-bridge-replacement-with-one-less-lane-other-cost-cutting-measures.html |work=The Oregonian |access-date=July 27, 2022}}

References

External links

[http://web.multco.us/bridges/burnside-bridge Burnside Bridge] page on Multnomah County website
{{HAER |survey=OR-101 |id=or0470 |title=Burnside Bridge, Spanning Willamette River at Burnside Street, Portland, Multnomah County, OR |photos=29 |color=3 |data=84 |cap=3}}

{{Crossings navbox

|structure = Crossings

|place = Willamette River

|bridge = Burnside Bridge

|bridge signs =

|upstream = Morrison Bridge

|upstream signs =

|downstream = Steel Bridge

|downstream signs =

}}

Category:1926 establishments in Oregon

Category:Bascule bridges in the United States