St. Johns Bridge
Encyclopedia
The St. Johns Bridge is a steel suspension bridge
that spans the Willamette River
in Portland, Oregon
, USA, between the St. Johns neighborhood
and the northwest industrial area around Linnton
. It is the only suspension bridge
in the Willamette Valley
and one of three public highway suspension bridges in Oregon
. It is also the farthest north of any bridge on the Willamette.
The bridge has two 408 ft (124 m) tall Gothic towers
, a 1,207 ft (368 m) center span and a total length of 2,067 ft (630 m). The adjacent park and neighborhood of Cathedral Park, Portland, Oregon
are named after the Gothic Cathedral-like appearance of the bridge towers. It is the tallest bridge in Portland, with 400 ft (122 m) tall towers and a 205 ft (62 m) navigational clearance.
By 2001, average traffic on the bridge was 23,800 vehicles/day.
At the time of the proposal to build the bridge, the area was served by a ferry that carried 1000 vehicles a day. The proposal for a bridge was initially met with skepticism in Multnomah County
, since St. Johns and Linnton were over five miles (8 km) from the heart of the city, and local business owners had minimal political clout. But after a lobbying effort that included a vaudeville
-style show performed at grange halls
and schools throughout the county, voters approved a $4.25 million bond for the bridge in the November 1928 elections. Initially a cantilever bridge
was proposed, but a suspension bridge was selected due to an estimated $640,000 savings in construction costs.
The construction of the bridge began a month before the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and provided many county residents with employment during the Great Depression
. Because of its proximity to the Swan Island Municipal Airport, some government officials wanted the bridge painted yellow with black stripes. County officials waited until St. Patrick's Day 1931 to announce that it would be painted green.
Dedication of the bridge was put off for one month in order to make it the centerpiece of the 23rd annual Rose Festival
. It was dedicated on June 13, 1931, and during the ceremony, the bridge engineer, David B. Steinman
said:
The bridge was built within 21 months and one million dollars under budget. At the time of its completion, the bridge had:
In the summer of 1949, 15-year-old high school student Thelma Taylor was abducted and held by her captor, Morris Leland, under the east side of the bridge (which was undeveloped at the time, now the location of Cathedral Park, Portland, Oregon
), and was eventually murdered there. The crime shocked the city and her killer was apprehended and put to death.
It was not until the Marquam Bridge in 1966 that another non-movable bridge would be built in Portland.
By the 1970s, the bridge had been allowed to deteriorate, and cash-strapped Multnomah County asked the state to take over maintenance. Initially, the state declined, since it was also suffering from a lack of funds. But pressure from an association of county governments forced the state government to take it over on August 31, 1975. A county official estimated the move saved them $10 million during the first ten years of state maintenance.
In summer 1987, General Motors filmed the introductory commercial for the 1988 Buick Regal in Portland, Oregon
and vicinity, including the St. John's bridge, the Astoria-Megler Bridge
, and on the Columbia Gorge.
Portions of the east approaches and east span were repainted beginning in 1987 and completed in 1994.
In 1999 the Oregon Department of Transportation
announced a $27 million rehabilitation project that began in March 2003 and was completed in the fall of 2005. Included in the project was replacement of the deck, repainting of the towers, water-proofing the main cables, lighting upgrades, and improving access for bicycle and pedestrian traffic. By November 2004, renovation costs soared to $38 million, due mostly to the need to replace nearly half of the 210 vertical suspender cables. During the project, the bridge sidewalks were closed at all times. In addition, the entire bridge was closed at night and continuously for a month. The newly refurbished bridge was rededicated on September 17, 2006.
, Jerry (James Caviezel
), a homeless man who was the first person helped by Trevor (Haley Joel Osment
), talks a woman out of jumping off the St. Johns Bridge.
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
that spans the Willamette River
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...
in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
, USA, between the St. Johns neighborhood
St. Johns, Portland, Oregon
St. Johns is a neighborhood of Portland, Oregon, United States located in North Portland on the tip of the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Willamette River and the Columbia River....
and the northwest industrial area around Linnton
Linnton, Portland, Oregon
Linnton is a Portland, Oregon neighborhood located between Forest Park and the Willamette River along U.S. Route 30 , close to the agricultural community of Sauvie Island. It borders the neighborhoods of Northwest Industrial on the south, St. Johns and Cathedral Park via the St...
. It is the only suspension bridge
Suspension bridge
A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck is hung below suspension cables on vertical suspenders. Outside Tibet and Bhutan, where the first examples of this type of bridge were built in the 15th century, this type of bridge dates from the early 19th century...
in the Willamette Valley
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley is the most populated region in the state of Oregon of the United States. Located in the state's northwest, the region is surrounded by tall mountain ranges to the east, west and south and the valley's floor is broad, flat and fertile because of Ice Age conditions...
and one of three public highway suspension bridges in Oregon
Oregon
Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...
. It is also the farthest north of any bridge on the Willamette.
The bridge has two 408 ft (124 m) tall Gothic towers
Gothic architecture
Gothic architecture is a style of architecture that flourished during the high and late medieval period. It evolved from Romanesque architecture and was succeeded by Renaissance architecture....
, a 1,207 ft (368 m) center span and a total length of 2,067 ft (630 m). The adjacent park and neighborhood of Cathedral Park, Portland, Oregon
Cathedral Park, Portland, Oregon
Cathedral Park is a both a park and a neighborhood in the North section of Portland, Oregon on the east shore of the Willamette River.-Neighborhood:...
are named after the Gothic Cathedral-like appearance of the bridge towers. It is the tallest bridge in Portland, with 400 ft (122 m) tall towers and a 205 ft (62 m) navigational clearance.
By 2001, average traffic on the bridge was 23,800 vehicles/day.
History
Designed by internationally renowned engineer David B. Steinman (1886-1960) and Holton D. Robinson, of New York, the St. Johns was the longest suspension-type bridge west of the Mississippi River at the time of construction. It is the only major highway suspension bridge in the Willamette Valley and one of only three major highway suspension bridges in Oregon.At the time of the proposal to build the bridge, the area was served by a ferry that carried 1000 vehicles a day. The proposal for a bridge was initially met with skepticism in Multnomah County
Multnomah County, Oregon
Multnomah County is one of 36 counties in the U.S. state of Oregon. Though smallest in area, it is the most populous as its county seat, Portland, is the state's largest city...
, since St. Johns and Linnton were over five miles (8 km) from the heart of the city, and local business owners had minimal political clout. But after a lobbying effort that included a vaudeville
Vaudeville
Vaudeville was a theatrical genre of variety entertainment in the United States and Canada from the early 1880s until the early 1930s. Each performance was made up of a series of separate, unrelated acts grouped together on a common bill...
-style show performed at grange halls
Grange movement
The National Grange of the Order of Patrons of Husbandry, also simply styled the Grange, is a fraternal organization for American farmers that encourages farm families to band together for their common economic and political well-being...
and schools throughout the county, voters approved a $4.25 million bond for the bridge in the November 1928 elections. Initially a cantilever bridge
Cantilever bridge
A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using cantilevers, structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end. For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed to handle road or rail traffic use trusses built from...
was proposed, but a suspension bridge was selected due to an estimated $640,000 savings in construction costs.
The construction of the bridge began a month before the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and provided many county residents with employment during the Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
. Because of its proximity to the Swan Island Municipal Airport, some government officials wanted the bridge painted yellow with black stripes. County officials waited until St. Patrick's Day 1931 to announce that it would be painted green.
Dedication of the bridge was put off for one month in order to make it the centerpiece of the 23rd annual Rose Festival
Rose Festival
Rose Festival may refer to:*Kutno Rose Festival in Kutno, Poland*Portland Rose Festival in Portland, Oregon*Texas Rose Festival in Tyler, Texas...
. It was dedicated on June 13, 1931, and during the ceremony, the bridge engineer, David B. Steinman
David B. Steinman
David Bernard Steinman was an American structural engineer. He was the designer of the Mackinac Bridge and many other notable bridges, and a published author. He grew up in New York City's lower Manhattan, and lived with the ambition of making his mark on the Brooklyn Bridge that he lived under...
said:
The bridge was built within 21 months and one million dollars under budget. At the time of its completion, the bridge had:
- the highest clearance in the nation,
- the longest prefabricated steel cable rope strands,
- the tallest steel frame piers of reinforced concrete,
- the first application of aviation clearance lights to the towers, and
- longest suspension span west of Detroit, MichiganDetroit, MichiganDetroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
.
In the summer of 1949, 15-year-old high school student Thelma Taylor was abducted and held by her captor, Morris Leland, under the east side of the bridge (which was undeveloped at the time, now the location of Cathedral Park, Portland, Oregon
Cathedral Park, Portland, Oregon
Cathedral Park is a both a park and a neighborhood in the North section of Portland, Oregon on the east shore of the Willamette River.-Neighborhood:...
), and was eventually murdered there. The crime shocked the city and her killer was apprehended and put to death.
It was not until the Marquam Bridge in 1966 that another non-movable bridge would be built in Portland.
By the 1970s, the bridge had been allowed to deteriorate, and cash-strapped Multnomah County asked the state to take over maintenance. Initially, the state declined, since it was also suffering from a lack of funds. But pressure from an association of county governments forced the state government to take it over on August 31, 1975. A county official estimated the move saved them $10 million during the first ten years of state maintenance.
In summer 1987, General Motors filmed the introductory commercial for the 1988 Buick Regal in Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
and vicinity, including the St. John's bridge, the Astoria-Megler Bridge
Astoria-Megler Bridge
The Astoria–Megler Bridge is a steel girder continuous truss bridge that spans the Columbia River between Astoria, Oregon and Point Ellice near Megler, Washington, in the United States. The span is from the mouth of the river, and was the last segment of U.S. Route 101 between Olympia, Washington...
, and on the Columbia Gorge.
Portions of the east approaches and east span were repainted beginning in 1987 and completed in 1994.
In 1999 the Oregon Department of Transportation
Oregon Department of Transportation
The Oregon Department of Transportation 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 Department which, along with the Oregon State Highway...
announced a $27 million rehabilitation project that began in March 2003 and was completed in the fall of 2005. Included in the project was replacement of the deck, repainting of the towers, water-proofing the main cables, lighting upgrades, and improving access for bicycle and pedestrian traffic. By November 2004, renovation costs soared to $38 million, due mostly to the need to replace nearly half of the 210 vertical suspender cables. During the project, the bridge sidewalks were closed at all times. In addition, the entire bridge was closed at night and continuously for a month. The newly refurbished bridge was rededicated on September 17, 2006.
In Pop Culture
In the film Pay It ForwardPay It Forward
Pay It Forward is a 2000 American drama film based on the novel of the same name by Catherine Ryan Hyde. It was directed by Mimi Leder and written by Leslie Dixon...
, Jerry (James Caviezel
James Caviezel
James Patrick Caviezel, Jr. is an American film actor, usually credited as Jim Caviezel. He is known for the roles of Jesus Christ in the 2004 film The Passion of the Christ, Bobby Jones in Bobby Jones: Stroke of Genius, Detective John Sullivan in Frequency, Edmond Dantès in The Count of Monte...
), a homeless man who was the first person helped by Trevor (Haley Joel Osment
Haley Joel Osment
Haley Joel Osment is an American actor. After a series of roles in television and film during the 1990s, including a small part in Forrest Gump playing Tom Hanks' title character’s son, Osment rose to fame with his performance as Cole Sear in M...
), talks a woman out of jumping off the St. Johns Bridge.
External links
- Historic American Engineering Record gallery Includes pictures and detail drawings of notable engineering features.