Siuslaw River Bridge

The Siuslaw River Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Siuslaw River on U.S. Route 101 in Florence, Oregon. It was designed by Conde McCullough, built by the Mercer-Fraser Company of Eureka, California, and funded by the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works (later renamed the Public Works Administration). It opened in 1936.^[3]

Siuslaw River Bridge
Coordinates	43°57′50″N 124°06′32″W
Carries	US 101
Crosses	Siuslaw River
Locale	Florence, Oregon
Maintained by	ODOT
Characteristics
Design	Double tied-arch with central bascule draw span
Total length	1,568 feet (478 m)
Longest span	140 feet (43 m)
History
Opened	March 31, 1936
Siuslaw River Bridge No. 01821
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Show map of Oregon Show map of the United States
Location	OR Coast 9, US101, MP109.98, Florence, Oregon
Area	2.2 acres (0.89 ha)
Built	1935–36
Built by	Mercer-Fraser Company
Architect	Conde B. McCullough
Architectural style	Late 19th and 20th Century Revivals, Modern Movement
MPS	McCullough, C. B., Major Oregon Coast Highway Bridges MPS
NRHP reference No.	05000816[1][2]
Added to NRHP	August 5, 2005[1]
Location

The bridge's total length is 1,568 feet (478 m).^[3] When open, the 140-foot (43 m) double-leaf bascule provides 110 feet (34 m) of horizontal clearance for boat traffic. The bascule section is flanked by two 154-foot (47 m) reinforced concrete tied arches, identical to those used in the original Alsea Bay Bridge.^[3] Four Art Deco-style obelisks house mechanical equipment as well as living quarters for the bridge operator.^[3] The total cost of the bridge was $527,000 (equivalent to $11.7 million in 2023^[4]).

The bridge with its bascule draw span opening

The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places on August 5, 2005.^[1]

See also

• Transport portal
• Engineering portal
• Oregon portal
• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Oregon
• List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Oregon
• List of bridges on U.S. Route 101 in Oregon

References

1. "Oregon National Register List" (PDF). Oregon Parks and Recreation Department. June 6, 2011. p. 22. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
2. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
3. Hadlow, Robert W. (2001). Elegant Arches, Soaring Spans: C. B. McCullough, Oregon's Master Bridge Builder. Oregon State University Press. pp. 93–94, 105, 138. ISBN 0-87071-534-8.
4. 1634–1699: McCusker, J. J. (1997). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States: Addenda et Corrigenda (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1700–1799: McCusker, J. J. (1992). How Much Is That in Real Money? A Historical Price Index for Use as a Deflator of Money Values in the Economy of the United States (PDF). American Antiquarian Society. 1800–present: Federal Reserve Bank of Minneapolis. "Consumer Price Index (estimate) 1800–". Retrieved February 29, 2024.

External links

• Media related to Siuslaw River Bridge (Florence, Oregon) at Wikimedia Commons
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. OR-58, "Siuslaw River Bridge, Spanning Siuslaw River at Oregon Coast Highway, Florence, Lane County, OR", 25 photos, 2 color transparencies, 7 data pages, 4 photo caption pages
• Siuslaw River Bridge at Structurae
• Video of bridge's bascule span open on YouTube