Ellsworth Street Bridge Explained

Bridge Name:Ellsworth Street Bridge
Crosses:Willamette River
Locale:Albany, Oregon
Maint:Oregon Department of Transportation
Design:Truss bridge
Open:1926
Coordinates:44.6393°N -123.1066°W

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 1090adj=midNaNadj=mid 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 downriver.[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-percent 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 through-trusses in the Parker style, each 200feet in length.[2] Ellsworth Street Bridge is a total of 1090feet long and 26feet wide with a vertical clearance of 25feet.[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

Notes and References

  1. Web site: North Albany Milestones . City of Albany . April 19, 2008 . July 24, 2011 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110724120454/http://www.ci.albany.or.us/comdev/projects/narp/milestones.html . dead .
  2. Book: Smith . Dwight A. . Norman . James B. . Dykman . Pieter T. . James B. Norman . Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon . https://web.archive.org/web/20100613014050/http://cce.oregonstate.edu/about/history/mac/albany.htm . 2010-06-13 . Salem, Oregon . Oregon Department of Transportation, Environmental Section . 1985 . 76.
  3. News: Rollins . Ian . Are our bridges safe? . . August 2, 2007.
  4. Web site: Albany Bridge . Link . Gary . 1990 . Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey . . April 21, 2008.
  5. Web site: NBI Structure Number: 01025D031 01044 . NationalBridges.com . April 19, 2008 .