-Hawthorne  

 

HAWTHORNE BRIDGE

A Legacy Project Bridge

LIGHTING DESIGN PLANS
Award-winning lighting designer Tony Adams, then of IDC, chose white floodlights to dramatize the Hawthorne's dynamic qualities and distinctive, asymmetrical form. His design shows off the new dark green and brick red color scheme of the 165' twin towers and their 450-ton counterweights, as well as the control cabin perched atop the often-elevated central span. Existing street lights continue to lluminate the roadway and lower parts of the bridge structure.

Adams has recently opened his own firm, The Light Edge, in Lake Oswego. His other lighting projects include the Broadway Tower dome, OMSI, and the temporary Hawthorne design for PGE's centennial (1989).

See NEWS for more about Hawthorne "lights-On"


BRIDGE FACTS

Type: Steel Through Truss (Parker) Vertical Lift
At mile marker: 13.1
Overall length: 1,383
Owner: Multnomah County


        The Hawthorne Bridge is the oldest operating vertical lift highway bridge in the USA. It has only 53' clearance below deck at low water, so to permit river traffic-which has priority-its main span opens an average of 200 times a month and as often as 350 times during summer months.

       Operating like a window sash, cables over pulleys slide the 244' long movable span as much as 110' up and down the 165' high towers. The span's weight is balanced by two 450-ton counterweights, one in each tower.

       This historic bridge opened in 1910, the first of a series which replaced earlier Portland swingspan structures. It was constructed by the Pennsylvania Steel Co. of Portland for $511,216 and designed by world-renown, J.A.L. Waddell, (Waddell & Harrington, Kansas City, MO), inventor of the modern vertical lift bridge. It was named for James C. Hawthorne (1819-81), who was the first psychiatrist in the northwest when he moved to Oregon in 1859.

       The bridge was built to accommodate pedestrian, horse, auto and street car crossings between downtown Portland and East Portland (The 2 cities had merged in 1895.). Even today its location and design make the Hawthorne Portland's busiest bridge for pedestrians, bicyclists and public transit. The repainting and modifications project of 1998-99 included widening the sidewalks and strengthening the deck to better accommodate this multi-modal traffic.

        The cabin mounted on the top of the lift span provides the bridge operator not only with controls for raising and lowering that span, but also a clear view of river and road traffic in all directions. It serves as "command center" for all four of Multnomah County's movable bridges.

Choose a bridge to view!

(*) indicates a Legacy Project Bridge

©2000-2004 . All rights reserved