S-Curves & Inspiration Point
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Old Pavement and Below Location of Reeves Photo (2014)HCRH State Trail - Hood River to Mosier. Oregon. May 15, 2014.Copyright © 2015 A. F. Litt, All Rights Reserved
"As the original stone guardrails deteriorated, they were replaced with modern steel railings, thus sacrificing much of the beauty of the old highway."
Richard N. Ross. "The Columbia River Highway" Columbia River Gorge: A Complete Guide. Philip N. Jones (Editor). Seattle: The Mountaineers. 1992. 25.
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.
Kevin Bracey / ODOT. Restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway, Hood River to Mosier Segment: Expanded Construction Narrative. 2000. 73.
"Looking east over the Alpha Omega crew starting on the Bingen Overlook wall. On the right side of the photo is the rock used to construct the wall. It was collected along side the Historic Highway from rockfalls near the work site."
Kevin Bracey / ODOT. Restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway, Hood River to Mosier Segment: Expanded Construction Narrative. 2000. 74.
"Gino of Alpha Omega Masonry supervises the stonework."
Kevin Bracey / ODOT. Restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway, Hood River to Mosier Segment: Expanded Construction Narrative. 2000. 73.
"While the concrete cap was still curing, a rockfall occurred that severely damaged the work that Alpha Omega had done on on a section of the masonry wall which lies near the county line."
Kevin Bracey / ODOT. Restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway, Hood River to Mosier Segment: Expanded Construction Narrative. 2000. 74.
"After the stones were placed, Alpha Omega later came to the site and sandblasted the excess grout between the joints."
Kevin Bracey / ODOT. Restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway, Hood River to Mosier Segment: Expanded Construction Narrative. 2000. 74.
"Alpha Omega, used a technique to build the wall different from other contractors on the Gorge projects, sandblasted off excess grout once it had dried, rather than remove it during initial grout application."
Kevin Bracey / ODOT. Restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway, Hood River to Mosier Segment: Expanded Construction Narrative. 2000. 75.
"After the wall was acceptable, MOCON acid washed and applied a staining product that provided a final appearance that more closely matched the existing masonry wall it connected to."
Kevin Bracey / ODOT. Restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway, Hood River to Mosier Segment: Expanded Construction Narrative. 2000. 75.
"Looking east over the restored Bingen Overlook wall during the winter."
Kevin Bracey / ODOT. Restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway, Hood River to Mosier Segment: Expanded Construction Narrative. 2000. 75.
"The newly reconstructed Bingen Overlook wall."
Kevin Bracey / ODOT. Restoration of the Historic Columbia River Highway, Hood River to Mosier Segment: Expanded Construction Narrative. 2000. 76.
