Green bridges have a history in Oregon

(FEBRUARY 1, 2021) Have you noticed? Many of the state's steel bridges are green. In fact, they are the same color of green. Its name is even "ODOT Green" (ODOT means Oregon Department of Transportation).

In fact, many bridges across the country are also ODOT Green. But it started in Oregon. How?

The first green bridge in Oregon was the St. Johns bridge in the 1920s. It was going to be black and yellow stripes, like a bee. That was to protect airplanes from crashes.

Most bridges then were black or gray. But the bridge engineer and the county government both voted to paint it green. The engineer made the bridge to reflect nature around it.

A few years later, the McLoughlin Bridge was built in Oregon City. It won an award. It was painted black, but the design was green. So that engineer also painted his bridge green.

Those two engineers went on to build several more bridges in Oregon. They were all painted the same green. Now you can see green bridges around Oregon and across the country.

However, newer bridges are not green. That's because many are made of concrete, not steel. Bridge builders do not have to paint concrete. Even the new steel bridges use a different material kind of steel that does not require paint.