Project News

The space below features news articles, press releases, meeting notices, and other material about the project. Feel free to contact us if you see something we should include.

How do you move an entire bridge?

When the Sellwood Bridge in Portland, Oregon, was built in 1925, it wasn’t designed to carry 30,000 vehicles a day. So county engineers decided it was time for a new bridge, and the least expensive option ($306 million) was to move the existing structure over to serve as a detour while a new one was built in its place. But the bridge’s rare design—a one-piece, 1,100-foot, 3,400-ton truss—posed an unusual problem. How do you move a whole bridge at once?

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Sellwood Bridge Field Work Update for May 17

TRAFFIC ALERTS

• Hwy. 43 Lane Closures: The outside southbound lane of Hwy. 43 remains closed nights and most of the day (except from 4 pm to 7 pm) weekdays between SW Taylors Ferry Road and the project limits south of the bridge while the contractor excavates the hillside west of the highway.
• Taylor’s Ferry Turn-Around: Next week the contractor will construct a turnaround in the traffic island at Hwy. 43 and SW Taylors Ferry Rd. The turnaround will allow northbound traffic to make a U-turn in 2014 when construction will prevent bridge traffic from turning south onto Hwy. 43. The outside southbound lane of Hwy. 43 will be closed from 9 am to 4 pm next to the traffic island during the work.
• 6th & Tacoma Work Zone: The contractor has started construction of Bent 11, the easternmost column of the bridge, on the south side of Tacoma St. west of SE 6th Ave. Flaggers are directing traffic in this area during construction.
• Springwater Trail: On May 20 the contractor will place steel plates over a section of the trail on the south side of the bridge, to protect the trail from construction equipment. Asphalt transition ramps will be added at each end of the plates, which will be painted orange for increased visibility. Signs will alert trail users about the plates, which will be coated with a non-skid surface for improved traction.
• Speed Limit Reminder: The speed limit on the bridge and in the work zone on Hwy. 43 is 25 mph. The speed limit is in effect at all hours and days of the week. Please note that drivers can be fined for parking in a construction zone.

Sellwood Bridge construction even wakes the deaf

Jim Manning is legally deaf. He lives near the Sellwood Bridge in Portland and usually sleeps well. Except recently “When I go to bed, I take my hearing aids off,” he said. “But last night the sound woke me up.”

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Sellwood Bridge Field Work Update - May 10

TRAFFIC ALERTS

• Hwy. 43 Lane Closures: The outside southbound lane of Hwy. 43 remains closed nights and most of the day (except from 4 pm to 7 pm) weekdays between SW Taylors Ferry Road and the project limits south of the bridge while the contractor excavates the hillside west of the highway.
• 6th & Tacoma Work Zone: Concrete barricades were installed along Tacoma St. between SE 6th Ave. and the west end of the bridge today, in preparation for work on the new bridge approach. Tacoma St. and 6th Ave. will remain open in both directions during this work and all turn movements are still allowed.
• Speed Limit Reminder: The speed limit on the bridge and in the work zone on Hwy. 43 is 25 mph. The speed limit is in effect at all hours and days of the week.

For safety, we urge bridge users not to cut through the narrow residential streets in the Sellwood area to dodge commute traffic.