S-Curves & Inspiration Point

Photo Currently Unavailable

"As the original stone guardrails deteriorated, they were replaced with modern steel railings, thus sacrificing much of the beauty of the old highway."

ODOT, Restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway, Hood River to Mosier Segment: Expanded Construction Narrative (2000)

Masonary Walls

Particularly challenging in the Roads contract was the restoration of the masonary walls. Alpha Omega of Hood River used a technique to build the wall different from other contractors on the Gorge projects. Alpha Omega grouted the rocks in place and instead of removing the excess grout before it hardened, they sandblasted it off at a later date. MOCON built the cap on the wall and also used a different technique. They built the formwork for the cap without fine tuning the forms to ensure a smooth curvature. Many hours were spent grinding and patching the cap.

The lesson learned by ODOT was that even though we do not want to direct the contractor on how to perform their work, we can provide them ideas that will have a higher likelihood for success. For future walls, ODOT should have all contractors build a concrete core and cap first and then attach the rock veneer.

CLICK HERE to continue exploring the highway