Fremont Bridge construction slides, 1973 March
Table of Contents
Overview of the Collection
- Creator
- Oregon. Department of Transportation
- Title
- Fremont Bridge construction slides
- Dates
- 1973 March1973-031973-03
- Quantity
- 0.1 cubic feet, (1 folder in shared document case)
- Collection Number
- Org. Lot 99
- Summary
- Small collection of slides taken for the Oregon Department of Transportation, depicting the center-arch span of the Fremont Bridge in Portland, Oregon, being hoisted into place in March 1973. The images show the 6,000-ton steel span being floated by barge down the Willamette River and lifted 175 feet, which, at that time, was the heaviest bridge lift ever completed.
- Repository
-
Oregon Historical Society Research Library
1200 SW Park Avenue
Portland, OR
97205
Telephone: 503-306-5240
Fax: 503-219-2040
libreference@ohs.org - Access Restrictions
-
Collection is open for research.
- Languages
- English
Historical Note
The Fremont Bridge in Portland, Oregon, which carries Interstate 405 and U.S. 30 traffic over the Willamette River, opened on November 15, 1973. With a main span length of 1,255 feet, it was the longest tied-arch bridge in the world until 2004. At the time, the March 1973 hoisting of the 900-foot, 6,000-ton center span, which was floated 1.7 miles up the Willamette on two barges from its assembly site at Swan Island, was the heaviest bridge lift ever completed. During the 50-hour lift, the span was raised 175 feet using 32 hydraulic jacks.
Source: "The Portland Bridge Book," 3rd edition, by Sharon Wood Wortman with Ed Wortman (Portland: Urban Adventure Press, 2006)
Content Description
The collection consists of fifty-six 35 mm color slides taken during construction of the Fremont Bridge in March 1973. The slides depict the bridge's main span being transported down the Willamette River by barge and lifted into place. The slides were taken for the Oregon Department of Transportation by an unidentified photographer. The collection also includes typescript descriptions of each slide. Researchers should note that the descriptions include incorrect dates for some images. Though the descriptions give a date of March 21, 1973, for slides showing the bridge span before it was lifted into place, the lift actually occurred several days earlier, on March 15-16.
Use of the Collection
Preferred Citation
Fremont Bridge construction slides, Org. Lot 99, Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Restrictions on Use
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
Administrative Information
Acquisition Information
Gift of Faith Stefens/Oregon Department of Transportation, January 1981 (Lib. Acc. 15381; Photo Acc. 981D014).
Separated Materials
Film footage of the Fremont Bridge construction that was received with the slides was separated to the moving image collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
Names and SubjectsReturn to Top
Subject Terms
- Bridges--Oregon--Portland--Design and construction--Photographs
- Public works--Oregon--Portland--Photographs
Geographical Names
- Fremont Bridge (Portland, Or.)--Photographs
- Portland (Or.)--Buildings, structures, etc.--Photographs
- Willamette River (Or.)--Photographs
Form or Genre Terms
- color slides
