Multnomah East Viaduct

Route 2

Built: 1914

East Multnomah Viaduct1st Annual Report, 1914. 61
ODOT - 2013 - Advisory Committee 2013 Year End Review Presentation

Robert W. Hadlow, Columbia River Highway Historic District, National Historic Landmark Nomination

CS14. Structure: East Multnomah Falls Viaduct, No. 841 HAER No. OR-36-J

Location: HMP 32.3

Date: 1914

Designer: K. P. Billner, Oregon State Highway Dept.

Builder: Pacific Bridge Company, Portland

Owner: Oregon Department of Transportation

This 860-foot viaduct originally consisted of forty-three 20-foot reinforced-concrete slab spans. The deck was supported by two parallel rows of 16-foot-square columns, 17'-6" apart. Roadway width is about 18 feet.

To provide greater stability to the structure, the Oregon State Highway Department, in 1922, added sets of intermediate posts and transverse walls at the midpoint of each span. Like the West Multnomah Falls Viaduct, this structure rises up the hillside because of tight right-of-way clearances with the nearby railroad mainline, and has a concrete retaining wall running along its south elevation. The arched railings were constructed of plaster concrete and metal lath. They represent a member of the family of bridge railing designs found on the CRH.


Hadlow, Landmark Nomination, 20
Eastbound onto the Eastern Viaduct (2015)Historic Columbia River Highway. Oregon. January 9, 2015Copyright © 2015 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved

"Just east of Multnomah Falls it was necessary to construct a similar viaduct 860 feet in length, the greatest height being 22 feet above the railway track, where the slopes of the mountain were very steep."


Lancaster, 1914 65
Viaduct Near Multnomah Falls - Display at Vista HouseVista House. Crown Point State Park. August 20, 2013
Post Card (Original): 9. Columbia River Highway Ore, # 251"This is an unused vintage Real Photo Post Card produced by early 20th Century photographers, Cross & Dimmit. The image was taken circa 1918. Photo post cards of this type were made between 1918 and 1940. As this post card is approximately 70 to 90 years old, minor imperfections and condition issues may be present." Friends of Vista House. From the collection of A. F. Litt.
56. ROADWAY AND RAILING, EAST MULTNOMAH FALLS VIADUCT, FACING WEST. - Historic Columbia River Highway, Troutdale, Multnomah County, ORDigital ID: (None) hhh or0386.photos.354707p http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.or0386/photos.354707pReproduction Number: HAER ORE,26-TROUT.V,1--56Repository: Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C. 20540 USA http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/pp.printhttps://www.loc.gov/pictures/item/or0386.photos.354707p/resource/
Bridge Construction Costs1st Annual Report, 1914 p. 50

Photo Currently Unavailable

Retaining Wall, East Multnomah ViaductDavison, Danae, Barbara Knapp. Cultural Landscape Inventory: Shellrock Mountain to Ruthton Point - Historic Columbia River Highway. Oregon Department of Transportation. January 2010. (31)
Osprey Nest Near Multnomah FallsColumbia River Gorge National Scenic Area, Oregon. March 17, 2013

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