Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge Explained

Glenn Jackson Memorial Bridge
Carries:8 lanes of
Crosses:Columbia River
Locale:Portland, Oregon to
Vancouver, Washington
Maint:Oregon Department of Transportation[1]
Design:Concrete segmental bridge
Mainspan:6000NaN0
Below:1441NaN1
Traffic:166,152 (2019)
Open:December 15, 1982
Coordinates:45.5931°N -122.5486°W

The Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge, or I-205 Bridge, is a segmental bridge that spans the Columbia River between Portland, Oregon and Vancouver, Washington. It carries Interstate 205, a freeway bypass of Portland, Oregon. The structure is maintained by the Oregon Department of Transportation.

Planning for the structure began in earnest in 1964 when it was designated as part of the East Portland Freeway (later renamed Veteran's Memorial Freeway), Interstate 205. Construction began in August 1977. In order to avoid disrupting river traffic, the bridge was built one segment at a time. The segments, weighing upwards of 200 tons, were cast 4miles downstream and barged into place. The bridge was opened on December 15, 1982.[2] [3] The finished project cost was $169.6 million: $155.7 million from federal funds, $4 million from Washington state funds and $9.9 million from Oregon state funds.[4] Three men died during its construction.[5] The bridge was closed to traffic on May 15, 1983, for a one-day festival named "People's Day", where 125,000 pedestrians crossed the bridge.[6]

It is a twin structure with four lanes in each direction and a 9feet bicycle and pedestrian path in between. The bridge is 7460feet long from the Washington side of the river to Government Island and another 31200NaN0 in length from Government Island to the Oregon side of the river. The main span, near the Washington side, is 6000NaN0 long with 1440NaN0 of vertical clearance at low river levels. The bridge was named for Glenn Jackson, the chairman of the Oregon State Highway Commission and later the Oregon Economic Development Commission.[7]

The average weekday traffic during 2019 was 166,152 vehicles.[8] In 2020, ODOT and WSDOT began a one-year pilot project to allow C-Tran buses to use the shoulders of I-205 over the bridge in order to bypass congestion.[9]

No vehicle, bicycle or pedestrian access to Government Island is available from the bridge.

Multi-use path

A multi-use path for pedestrians and cyclists runs along the center of the bridge. This multi-use path connects to two trailheads at each end of the bridge as well as the I-205 Trail through Portland.[10] The path lacks access to Government Island.

References

Notes and References

  1. August 20, 2009 . Asset Management: Bridge Assessment Annual Report . 19 . The Gray Notebook . 34 . . December 26, 2023 . December 26, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231226201114/https://wsdot.wa.gov/eesc/bridge/preservation/GrayNotebookJun09-Bridges.pdf . live .
  2. Callister, Scotta (December 16, 1982). "Rain fails to faze bridge-crossers". The Oregonian, p. E12.
  3. News: Seekamp . William . The long, winding road to the Interstate 205 Bridge . 15 October 2023 . The Columbian . October 14, 2023 . 19 October 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20231019040130/https://projects.columbian.com/2023/10/14/the-long-winding-road-to-the-interstate-205-bridge/ . live .
  4. Federal-aid Project No. I-205-7(85)315 Contract 8526; Federal-aid Project No. I-205-7(65)314 Contract 8862; Federal-aid Project No. I-205-7(66)315 Contract 8905; Federal-aid Project No. I-205-7(85)314 Contract 9510; Federal-aid Project No. I-205-7(84)314 Contract 9444; Federal-aid Project No. I-205-1(121)0 Washington Approach Contract
  5. Web site: First vehicles cross the Glenn L. Jackson Bridge over the Columbia River on December 15, 1982. . Gregg Herrington . September 24, 2008 . . February 18, 2021 . May 12, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20210512120217/https://www.historylink.org/File/8789 . live .
  6. News: Ryll . Thomas . December 15, 2002 . I-205: Spanning 20 years . A1 . . . February 9, 2023 . February 9, 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230209213943/https://www.newspapers.com/clip/118309494/i-205-spanning-20-years-cont/ . live .
  7. News: A Recent History of Oregon's Citizen Boards and Commissions . Russell Sadler . February 5, 2005 . West by Northwest . https://web.archive.org/web/20060624025349/http://westbynorthwest.org/artman/publish/article_1011.shtml. June 24, 2006. dead. July 1, 2021.
  8. Web site: Columbia River Bridges . Southwest Washington Regional Transportation Council . November 3, 2020 . February 7, 2019 . https://web.archive.org/web/20190207181904/https://www.rtc.wa.gov/data/traffic/bridges/daily.asp . live .
  9. Web site: I-205: Bus on Shoulder Pilot . Oregon Department of Transportation . October 28, 2021 . October 29, 2021 . https://web.archive.org/web/20211029041103/https://www.oregon.gov/odot/projects/pages/project-details.aspx?project=205BOS . live .
  10. Web site: I-205 Multi-Use Path . AllTrails . 18 February 2023 . 18 February 2023 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230218170132/https://www.alltrails.com/trail/us/washington/i-205-multi-use-path-glenn-l-jackson-memorial-bridge . live .