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About The Siuslaw news. (Florence, Lane County, Or.) 1960-current | View Entire Issue (Aug. 10, 2016)
THESIUSLAWNEWS . COM ❘ / SIUSLAWNEWS ❘ @ SIUSLAWNEWS WEDNESDAY EDITION ❘ AUGUST 10, 2016 ❘ Siuslaw News Coast Life SECTION B SENIOR NEWS CALENDAR INSIDE — 8B E l eg a nt a t 80 PHOTO BY CHANTELLE MEYER/SIUSLAW NEWS Architect Conde B. McCullough designed the Siuslaw River Bridge in Florence and his other bridges in the art deco style popular in the 1930s. B Y J ACK D AVIS Siuslaw News N o one watching Rhododendron Festival Queen Gail Darling break a bottle of gin- ger ale — Prohibition was over, but Champagne was still expensive — on the Siuslaw River Bridge during the open- ing day ceremony, March 31, 1936, could possibly have imagined that 80 years later almost 1 million cars a year would be crossing over the iconic span. Judy Fleagle, author of two books about the bridge said, “The Siuslaw River Bridge was the most important thing that ever happened to Florence. It changed every- thing.” Prior to the bridge, foot and later car ferries transported people between Florence on the north side of the Siuslaw River to Glenada on the south side. The pilings near the gazebo off Bay Street in Old Town are the decaying rem- nants of the old Florence ferry dock. In addition to having to wait until the ferry was full before it departed for the other side, ferries were subject to the ele- ments. “The ferry was closed at night. The ferry didn’t run if the tide was too low. The ferry didn’t run if the weather was too bad,” Fleagle said. During the middle of the Great Depression, a visionary civil engineer named Conde B. McCullough proposed to build five bridges across the five major water obstacles along the Oregon coast. All five of the bridges — McCullough Memorial Bridge (Coos Bay), Umpqua River Bridge (Reedsport), Siuslaw River Bridge (Florence), Alsea Bay Bridge (Waldport) and Yaquina Bay Bridge (Newport) — were construct- ed during the same two-year period. McCullough traveled from bridge to bridge to over- see the entire project. Florence’s 1936 Queen Rhododendra Gail Darling christens the Siuslaw River Bridge with a bottle of gin- ger ale on March 31, 1936, during the 28th year of the Rhododendron Festival. SIUSLAW NEWS FILE PHOTOS Cars await the inaugural crossing of the Siuslaw River Bridge prior to the grand opening ceremony on March 31, 1936. concrete and reinforced steel. Despite bitter lobbying by McCullough designed and Oregon’s lumber industry, the Ironically, almost as much built a total of 10 Oregon U.S. Army Corps of lumber was used in support coast bridges between the and scaffolding dur- Wilson and Rogue ing the construction rivers. Their unique “The Siuslaw River Bridge was the most of the five bridges art deco architectural important thing that ever happened to as would have been design attracts visi- required to build tors from around the Florence. It changed everything.” them entirely out of world and is consid- —JUDY FLEAGLE, LOCAL AUTHOR timber. ered one of Oregon’s In all, about 1.5 signature trademarks. Of the 10, the Siuslaw Bridge Engineers, who had final con- million lineal feet of lumber, 10,000 cubic yards of con- trol of all coastal bridges at is the only drawbridge. crete and almost 1.6 million that time, nixed the idea of In 1936, when the 1,568- pounds of reinforced and foot Siuslaw River Bridge was wooden bridges. The corps structural steel were used to determined that the bridges dedicated, Florence had a build the Siuslaw Bridge. population of 350. would be constructed out of Total cost of the bridge was $527,068.67. The bridge is currently undergoing two upgrades: zinc impress cathodic protec- tion and earthquake retro- fitting that will extend its life expectancy for decades into the future. The bridge is also being made more handicap and pedestrian accessible. According to Fleagle, zinc impress cathodic protection is a recently developed process that protects the bridge’s steel reinforcement from being lit- erally eaten up by a condition that occurs when metal, like steel, is subjected to salt water. “The federal government doesn’t have the money to replace these bridges,” Fleagle said. “This procedure will give the bridge decades more life.” Historical and statistical information in this article is from Fleagle’s book “Crossings, McCullough’s Coastal Bridges.” People can visit the Siuslaw River Bridge Interpretive Center in Old Town Florence for more information on the bridge’s history. Of McCullough’s 10 Oregon coast bridges, only the Siuslaw River Bridge is a drawbridge, which is still operational to this day. CYAN MAGENTA YELLOW BLACK In its 80th year, Siuslaw River Bridge still has decades to go