Ellsworth Street Bridge
| Ellsworth Street Bridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 44°38′21″N 123°06′24″W / 44.6393°N 123.106635°WCoordinates: 44°38′21″N 123°06′24″W / 44.6393°N 123.106635°W |
| Carries |
 US 20 |
| Crosses | Willamette River |
| Locale | Albany, Oregon |
| Maintained by | Oregon Department of Transportation |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Truss bridge |
| Total length | 1090 feet |
| Width | 26 feet |
| Longest span | 800 feet |
| History | |
| Opened | 1926 |
The Ellsworth Street Bridge is a highway bridge that crosses the Willamette River in Albany, Oregon, United States. Built in 1925, the two-lane structure carries U.S. Route 20 eastbound traffic, with the adjacent Lyon Street Bridge carrying westbound traffic. The 1,090-foot (330 m)-long steel-truss bridge was designed by Conde McCullough and opened in 1926.
History
In 1887, a bridge was built across the Willamette River at Albany for the Corvallis and Eastern Railroad followed by the Steel Bridge built in 1893 just down river.[1] The state of Oregon began building a new bridge across the river at the city in 1925 to carry vehicular traffic.[2] Designed by state highway department bridge designer Conde McCullough, it was constructed by the Union Bridge Company based in Portland, Oregon.[2] The steel truss structure was completed in 1926.[3]
When the bridge opened, the Albany-Corvallis Highway was completed.[4] At the time the structure was named the Albany Bridge.[4] In 1973, the neighboring Lyon Street Bridge was completed to the east to expand capacity to a total of four lanes between the two bridges.[3] Ellsworth Street Bridge was refurbished in 1971 and 2002.[3][5] As of 2004, the bridge handled an average of 9,850 cars per day.[5]
Details
Classified as functionally obsolete with a 53.8% sufficiency rating, the two-lane bridge carries eastbound traffic of U.S. Route 20 south into downtown Albany at milepost 10.44.[2][5] The bridge’s main span consists of four steel thru-trusses in the Parker style, each 200 feet (61 m) in length.[2] Ellsworth Street Bridge is a total of 1,090 feet (330 m) long and 26 feet (7.9 m) wide with a vertical clearance of 25 feet (7.6 m).[2][5] The seven concrete approaches are of a girder design.[5] The green colored bridge also has ornate concrete railings and entrance pylons.[2] Ellsworth Street Bridge was of the few steel truss bridges completed while McCullough was in charge of bridge design in Oregon, and it is one of the few multi-span steel truss bridges remaining in the state.[4]
See also
- List of crossings of the Willamette River
- Picture from 2008
References
- ↑ North Albany Milestones. City of Albany. Retrieved on April 19, 2008.
- 1 2 3 4 5 6 Smith, Dwight A., James B. Norman, and Pieter T. Dykman. Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon. Salem, Or: Oregon Dept. of Transportation, Environmental Section, 1985. p. 76.
- 1 2 3 Rollins, Ian. Are our bridges safe? Albany Democrat Herald, August 2, 2007.
- 1 2 3 American Memory: Built in America: Albany Bridge, Spanning Willamette River at U.S. Highway 20, Albany, Linn County, OR. U.S. Library of Congress. Retrieved on April 21, 2008.
- 1 2 3 4 5 NBI Structure Number: 01025D031 01044. NationalBridges.com. Retrieved on April 19, 2008.
External links
- Albany Bridge, Spanning Willamette River at U.S. Highway 20, Albany, Linn, OR at the Historic American Engineering Record (HAER)
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