The Sunday Oregonian: Beautiful Columbia Gorge Park Soon To Be Accessible To Autos (July 16, 1916)

The highway crosses Eagle Creek only 150 yards above its mouth, and a short trail brings the excursionist to the rocky bank of the Columbia.

Eagle Creek pours its contribution into the river through an outlet crowded with huge boulders. These monsters have been standing along the bed of the stream many hundreds of years, some of them having diverted the course of the channel. Their origin evidently was volcanic. Most of them are rounded in form, as if they had been rolled down from the brink of some ancient crater that figured in the geologic history of the Cascades.

If you compare the photo at the top of the page with the HAER photo from the mid-1990s, you can see that much less of the arch is visible due to the higher waters after the construction of Bonneville Dam.

ODOT, HCRH Completed Projects: Eagle Creek Exit Ramp

This Forest Highway Enhancement project changed the striping on the Eagle Creek Exit Ramp to provide a contra-flow bike lane connection to the Historic Columbia River Highway State Trail. The Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area office of USDA Forest Service designed and constructed this project in 2010.

Clearly, the "driveway" curving to the south off the east end of the bridge is no more.

BridgeHunter.com: Eagle Creek Bridge

Overview: Concrete arch bridge over Eagle Creek on Historic Columbia River Highway

Status: Open to traffic

History: Built 1914

Builders

- Charles H. Purcell (Bridge Engineer)

- Lewis W. Metzger (Design Engineer)

- Pacific Bridge Co. of Portland, Oregon (Contractor)

Design

Closed-spandrel concrete arch

Dimensions

Length of largest span: 60.4 ft.

Total length: 103.0 ft.

Deck width: 20.0 ft.

Recognition

Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places

Average daily traffic (as of 2016)

200

Inventory numbers

OR 02063A (Oregon Dept. of Transportation structure number)

BH 30107 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

BridgeReports.com: SERVICE RD over EAGLE CREEK

Structure number: 02063A002C04157

Location: AT CASCADE HATCHERY

Purpose: Carries highway over waterway

Route classification: Principal Arterial - Interstate (Rural) [01]

Length of largest span: 60.4 ft. [18.4 m]

Total length: 103.0 ft. [31.4 m]

Roadway width between curbs: 20.0 ft. [6.1 m]

Deck width edge-to-edge: 25.9 ft. [7.9 m]

Owner: State Highway Agency [01]

Year built: 1914

Historic significance: Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places [1]

Design load: M 13.5 / H 15 [2]

Main span material: Concrete [1]

Main span design: Arch - Deck [11]

Deck type: Concrete Cast-in-Place [1]

Wearing surface: Bituminous [6]

Latest Available Inspection: July 2017

Good/Fair/Poor Condition: Fair

Status: Open, no restriction [A]

Average daily traffic: 200 [as of 2016]

Truck traffic: 26% of total traffic

Deck condition: Fair [5 out of 9]

Superstructure condition: Fair [5 out of 9]

Substructure condition: Fair [5 out of 9]

Structural appraisal: Somewhat better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is [5]

Deck geometry appraisal: Meets minimum tolerable limits to be left in place as is [4]

Water adequacy appraisal: Better than present minimum criteria [7]

Roadway alignment appraisal: Equal to present minimum criteria [6]

Channel protection: Bank is beginning to slump. River control devices and embankment protection have widespread minor damage. There is minor stream bed movement evident. Debris is restricting the channel slightly. [6]

Pier/abutment protection: None present but re-evaluation suggested [5]

Scour condition: Bridge with "unknown" foundation that has not been evaluated for scour. [U]

Sufficiency rating: 80.1

Recommended work: Replacement of bridge or other structure because of substandard load carrying capacity or substantial bridge roadway geometry. [31]

Estimated cost of work: $580,000

Links

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