The Hawthorne Bridge Portland

The Hawthorne Bridge is a truss bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, joining Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street. It is the oldest vertical lift bridge in operation in the United States and the oldest highway bridge in Portland. It is also the busiest bicycle and transit bridge in Oregon, with over 4,800 cyclists and 750 TriMet buses daily.

The bridge consists of five fixed spans and one 244 ft. long vertical lift span. It is 1,382 feet in total length. The 880,000 pound counterweights are suspended from the two 165 ft. tall towers. While the river is at low level the bridge is 49 feet above the water, causing it to be raised an average of 200 times per month. As of 2001 the average daily traffic is 30,500 vehicles. The bridge was designed by John Waddell, inventor of the vertical lift bridge and also designer of the Steel and Interstate bridges.

Photo 138, Sept 2006

The Hawthorne Bridge in the foreground

Photo 145, Sept 2006