612
THE WEST SHORE.
SUSPENSION BRIDGE AT OREGON CITY.
I ESS than two years ago, the Willamette river,
j which had ran " unfretted to the sea " since
the command was given which first "gathered together
in one place" the waters of the earth, was first spanned
by a bridge at Portland, and this was quickly followed
by others at Salem, Albany, and a second one at Port
land Realizing that much of their fatnre prosperi
ty depended npon uniting the available water power
property on both sides of the river by a bridge, the
people of Oregon City decided, more than a year ago,
that inch a structure must be erected. At that time
a movement was on foot to place the magnificent pow
er of the Willaraetto falls in the hands of a company
which would use it for the upbuilding of the city, by
securing the location there of important manufactur
ing institutions, which should be given factory sites
frco, and the use of power for a term of years. As a
necessary portion of this general plan of development,
a freo bridge across the river was of great importance.
Resides rendering the water power on the west side
of the stream available for manufacturing purposes
by giving it access to the town proper and the rail
road, it also brought the large area of high, sightly
and beautifully locatod land on that side of the stream
into such close cod junction with the city as to render
it desirable for rcsidenco purposes, and rendered trib
utary to Oregon City a large area of agricultural land
on the west side of the Willamette, which had been
practically cut off from it when the only means of
crossing the stream was a small ferry, upon which
tolls had to be paid. These considerations induced
the board of county commissioners to build a free
bridgo at the expense of Clackamas county, of which
Oregon City is the county scat
Recauso of the high banks on both sides of the
stream, it was deemed best to adopt the suspension
system, and plans for a structure costing $25,000.00
were accepted, tho contract being let to the Pacific
Rridgo Co. Work was begun on the first of July,
1888, and was pushed energetically forward, so that
the bridgo was completed and was accepted by the
commissioners on tho siith of December. The date
of completion was not known in advance, bat such
was the interest felt in the work by the citizens, that
a largo crowd assembled when it was known that the
time had arrive for formal acceptance by the author
ities. County Judge W. L White and his associates
on the board of commissioners, C Rair and 0.
Moenke, accompanied by E. L. Eastham, John M. Ea-
con, Thomas Charman and W. T. Whitlock, were
driven upon the bridgo in a four-in-hand, where they
alighted and remained while Judge White drove the
last spike in the structure, amid the cheers of the
crowd and the music of two bands. Brief addreBses
were delivered by Judge White, Mr. Eastham and
W. C. Johnson. In this informal, but enthusiastic.
manner, the people of Oregon City celebrated the be
ginning of an era of prosperity, the end of which no
man can predict
The substantial structure, an engraving of which
is given on another page, spans the river from Sev.
enth street to the high, rocky bluff on the opposite
side. The bridge is seventy-seven feet above low
water, permitting steamers to pass under without dif
ficulty, and by its lofty position and the great beauty
of its surroundings, making a most picturesque effect.
The view from the bridge is a charming one in which
ever direction th6 eyes may be cast, the swiftly-gliding
stream beneath, the white-foamed falls, the timbered
hills and mountains, the grassy vales, the cultivated
fields and the white-robed Hood, combining to make
pictures of wonderful beauty.
With a suspended span of four hundred and sixty.
six feet, and approaches of three hundred feet on the
east and one hundred and sixty four feet on the west,
the bridge is indeed a large one. The structure is
supported by two huge trusses, each six hundred and
ten feet in length, and suspended from two cables
passing over the tops of two towers near either end.
The cables were made by Roebling Rrothers, builders
of the huge Brooklyn bridge, and consist of seven
ropes bound together, each rope being one and seven
eighths inches in diameter, and containing six strands
of galvanized steel wire, and have a total length of
eight hundred and forty-six feet At either end of
the bridge the cables are anchored into the bed rock
to a depth of thirteen feet, being secured by a casting
weighing eleven hundred pounds, crossed by a girder
iron five feet in length, the space above being filled
with solid masonry. The iron trusses, girders, rods,
braces, etc., were made in Massillon, Ohio, and in
San Francisco. The trusses are sixteen feet apart,
which is, therefore, the width of the roadway. Ten
iron lattice struts cross the bridge overhead, from ca
ble to cable, imparting strength and stability to the
structure. A counter cable of steel wire rope, one
and one-half inches thick and four hundred and
eighty-nine feet long, curves upward from the base of
each tower, and crosses the main cable twice, so that
in the center of the span the counter cable is the
highest, and is fastened" to the truss and the floor
beams by iron rods. At each end of this cable, in the
base of the tower, is a concrete weight, which takes
up the slack and maintains a constant adjustment.
The expansion and contraction of the main cable by
changes in temperature are provided for by movable
saddles set on expansion rollers at the top of each
tower, across which the cable rests, giving it a play of