Oregon Public Broadcasting

The historic Oregon City/West Linn arch bridge is closed for three weeks to prepare for a major rehabilitation project later this year.  

That project is expected to start in late summer and will result in a two-year closure of the bridge, known as the Willamette River Bridge.

“The bridge basically needs to be restored,” says Christine Miles, a spokeswoman with the Oregon Department of Transportation.  “Some of the concrete looks a little worn.  It’s like an old bungalow that needs to be renovated.  It has a beautiful outside but it just looks tarnished.”

The bridge remains open to pedestrians and bicyclists during the preparation work, but the late-summer closure will require removal and rebuilding of the sidewalks.  That means there will be no pedestrian and bicycle access once the full renovation begins.

The Willamette River Bridge opened in 1922.  The main span is covered in a “Gunite” concrete coating that was applied to the steel components of the bridge.  That was done to protect the steel from corrosives associated with nearby mills.

The renovation is expected to cost between $15 million and $17 million and has been in the planning stages for more than four years.

ODOT plans to repair the protective “Gunite” coating as well as fix deck support beams and put a new overlay on the deck.

Historic rails will be replaced and the bridges historic lights will be repaired.  

The detour route for the bridge will be the I-205 George Abernethy bridge.  But that bridge first needs repair and repaving work—which is planned for this summer.