Steel Bridge and Fremont Bridge, Dusk, Willamette River

PhotoID: D300CRW08189

Steel Bridge: This is the bridge the Amtrak trains cross when leaving Portland to the south or east. Portland's MAX light rail train crosses on the top deck, also. Cars use it, too!

Finished in 1912, the Steel Bridge is considered unique because it is one of the only known dual-lift bridges in the world. That is, the lower deck (Amtrak and freight trains) can be lifted independently of the upper deck (MAX, automobiles) to allow some clearance.

The current Steel bridge replaced an earlier on at approximately the same spot that was built in 1888. [1]

[1] Smith, Dwight. Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon. Second Edition. Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society, 1989. P. 208.

Fremont Bridge: Finished in 1973, this is Portland's newest bridge over the Willamette. The double-decked Fremont Bridge connects northbound I-405 and westbound US-30 to I-5. It weighs 6,000 tons and was lifted 170 feet - a Guinness Book of World Records entry for heaviest lift ever made at the time.  The tied arch span is 902 feet long and was not built on-site but floated on the river into place. [1]

[1] Smith, Dwight. Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon. Second Edition. Portland, Oregon: Oregon Historical Society, 1989. P. 300.