St. Johns Bridge

St. Johns Bridge
Coordinates
Carries	US 30 Byp.
Crosses	Willamette River
Locale	Portland, Oregon (St. Johns, Northwest Industrial District)
Maintained by	Oregon Department of Transportation
Heritage status	Portland Historic Landmark
Characteristics
Design	Suspension bridge, Gothic
Total length	2,067 feet (630 m)
Height	400 feet (120 m)
Longest span	1,207 feet (368 m)
Clearance below	205 feet (62 m)
History
Opened	June 13, 1931
St. Johns Bridge is located in Portland, Oregon St. Johns Bridge Location in Portland, Oregon

The St. Johns Bridge is a steel suspension bridge that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, USA, between the St. Johns neighborhood and the northwest industrial area around Linnton. It carries U.S. Route 30 Bypass. It is the only suspension bridge in the Willamette Valley and one of three public highway suspension bridges in Oregon.

The bridge has two 408 feet (124 m) tall Gothic towers, a 1,207 feet (368 m) center span and a total length of 2,067 feet (630 m). The adjacent park and neighborhood of Cathedral Park, Portland, Oregon are named after the Gothic Cathedral-like appearance of the bridge towers. It is the tallest bridge in Portland, with 400 feet (120 m) tall towers and a 205 feet (62 m) navigational clearance.

History

Designed by internationally renowned engineer David B. Steinman (1886–1960) and Holton D. Robinson, of New York, the St. Johns was the longest suspension-type bridge west of the Mississippi River at the time of construction. It is the only major highway suspension bridge in the Willamette Valley and one of only three major highway suspension bridges in Oregon.

At the time of the proposal to build the bridge, the area was served by a ferry that carried 1,000 vehicles a day. The proposal for a bridge was initially met with skepticism in Multnomah County, since St. Johns and Linnton were over five miles (8 km) from the heart of the city, and local business owners had minimal political clout. But after a lobbying effort that included a vaudeville-style show performed at grange halls and schools throughout the county, voters approved a $4.25 million bond for the bridge in the November 1928 elections. Initially, a cantilever bridge was proposed, but a suspension bridge was selected due to an estimated $640,000 savings in construction costs.

The construction of the bridge began a month before the Stock Market Crash of 1929 and provided many county residents with employment during the Great Depression. Because of its proximity to the Swan Island Municipal Airport, some government officials wanted the bridge painted yellow with black stripes. County officials waited until St. Patrick's Day 1931 to announce that it would be painted green.

Dedication of the bridge was put off for one month in order to make it the centerpiece of the 23rd annual Rose Festival. It was dedicated on June 13, 1931, and during the ceremony, the bridge engineer, David B. Steinman said:

A challenge and an opportunity to create a structure of enduring beauty in the God-given wondrous background was offered us when were asked to design the bridge. It is the most beautiful bridge in the world we feel.

Viewed from the northwest, looking toward St. Johns

The bridge was built within 21 months and one million dollars under budget. At the time of its completion, the bridge had:

• the highest clearance in the nation,
• the longest prefabricated steel cable rope strands,
• the tallest steel frame piers of reinforced concrete,
• the first application of aviation clearance lights to the towers, and
• longest suspension span west of Detroit, Michigan.

In the summer of 1949, 15-year-old high school student Thelma Taylor was abducted and held by her captor, Morris Leland, under the east side of the bridge (which was undeveloped at the time, now the location of Cathedral Park), and was eventually murdered there. The crime shocked the city and her killer was apprehended and put to death.

It was not until the Marquam Bridge in 1966 that another non-movable bridge would be built in Portland.

By the 1970s, the bridge had been allowed to deteriorate, and cash-strapped Multnomah County asked the state to take over maintenance. Initially, the state declined, since it was also suffering from a lack of funds. But pressure from an association of county governments forced the state government to take it over on August 31, 1975. A county official estimated the move saved them $10 million during the first ten years of state maintenance.

In summer 1987, General Motors filmed the introductory commercial for the 1988 Buick Regal in Portland and vicinity, including the St. Johns Bridge, the Astoria–Megler Bridge, and the Columbia River Gorge.

Portions of the east approaches and east span were repainted beginning in 1987 and completed in 1994.

In 1999, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced a $27 million rehabilitation project that began in March 2003 and was completed in the fall of 2005. Included in the project was replacement of the deck, repainting of the towers, waterproofing the main cables, lighting upgrades, and improving access for bicycle and pedestrian traffic. By November 2004, renovation costs soared to $38 million, due mostly to the need to replace nearly half of the 210 vertical suspender cables. During the project, the bridge sidewalks were closed at all times. In addition, the entire bridge was closed at night and continuously for a month. The newly refurbished bridge was rededicated on September 17, 2006.

In July 2015, a group of protesters affiliated with Greenpeace rappelled down from the bridge to prevent the icebreaker MSV Fennica from leaving Portland, because it was destined to help Shell Oil Company drill for oil in the Chukchi Sea. They stayed there for forty hours, prompting the icebreaker to turn around after an initial departure attempt a few hours into the blockade. The vessel did eventually get through after three climbers came down, although it was met by dozens of kayakers in the water who joined the effort to slow or stop the ship from moving forward.

In pop culture

In the film Pay It Forward, Jerry (James Caviezel), a homeless man who was the first person helped by Trevor (Haley Joel Osment), talks a woman out of jumping off the St. Johns Bridge.

In the comic book Captain Marvel Adventures #29 (1943), Captain Marvel visits what was then known as the 'Sky Bridge'. (Reprinted in 'Shazam! Visits Portland, Oregon in 1943!', a promotional comic from Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI).)

The bridge has appeared in the TV series Grimm.

The bridge appears in the 1998 film, Zero Effect.

The St. Johns Bridge was also mentioned and featured in the 2012 thriller Gone, starring Amanda Seyfried.

The bridge appears in the 2014 TV series The Librarians

Gallery

• St. Johns Bridge.JPG

  St. Johns Bridge from Cathedral Park

• St. Johns Bridge 04.jpg

  View of bridge deck, towards Forest Park

• StJohnsBridgeHAER.png

  HAER description

• StJohnsEastAnchorHAER.png

  Spire and East Anchorage

• StJohnsBridgeAnchorHAER.png

  West Anchorage and Cable Bent Saddle=

• St. Johns Bridge.jpg

  St. Johns Bridge in Cathedral Park, standing beneath one of its supports

• St. Johns Bridge Passage (Multnomah County, Oregon scenic images) (mulDA0018).jpg

  Sidewalk passageway

• St. Johns Bridge in Portland, 2012.JPG

  Close-up of one tower and its base

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Panoramic photo of St. Johns Bridge in Portland, OR; taken from the Northeast bank on the South side of the bridge.

See also

• List of crossings of the Willamette River

References

• The Sentinel, Murderous mayhem in St. Johns, October 2008
• The Northern Woods, Legend of the St. Johns Bridge Haunting, Case Number: TNW102907 © 2007
• KATU News, Spooky Portland: A grisly murder, a haunted castle, bodies in the Keller!, October 2008

External links

• Historic American Engineering Record gallery Includes pictures and detail drawings of notable engineering features.
• Saint Johns Bridge at Structurae