Lewis & Clark Bridge

Michael C. Taylor, Road of Difficulties: Building the Lower Columbia River Highway

At the western city limits of Rainier, Highway 30 and the old highway route diverge drastically. Taking the Columbia River Highway into Rainier Heights made sense at the time, both from a practical and aesthetic standpoint.

A great deal of blasting was required to clear the present approach to the Lewis & Clark Bridge, which didn't open until 1930.

MARCH 29, 2020

The following quote is bad OCR text from the Wikipedia page of the above photo. I've tried to sort it out the best I can, but I'll need to check the source link eventually, and it is not loading with my limited, slow internet connection off my phone here in Vernonia.

I find it interesting that there is a story of the President of the United States using a golden telegraph key to open the bridge. The same story is said about the dedication of Crown Point, using a golden telegraph key to raise or unfurl the US flag during the ceremony, though ODOT historian Robert W. Hadlow was questioning the veracity of this traditional story in 2015.

Frederic Earp, "World's Highest Cantilever Bridge" Architect and Engineer (April 1930)

From Longview, Washington, to Rainier, Oregon the gateway to Puget Sound and British Columbia from Northwest Oregon was formally opened to public traffic-March 29. 1930. when the Columbia Riv- green State. The President of the United States from the White House in Washington, pressed a golden telegraph key that opened the bridge.

For the first time in the history of white settlement on the Lower Columbia, which dates back to the days of Lewis and Clark, Dr. McLaughlin, and the Astoria Expeditions, it is possible for the motorist from the Northern coast of Oregon and the Lower river communities, to pass without long detour or slow ferry directly into the [unintelligible]...

The Columbia River-Longview Bridge has a cantilever span 1200 feet long and a clearance of 196.5 feet above mean low water of Columbia River. The maximum height above mean low water is 330 feet and the length, including wooden approaches, is 8289 feet. Beginning with the Longview or north side, the bridge has 2620 feet of wooden approach trestle; two 40-foot and one 168-foot steel approach spans, a 760-foot anchor arm; a 1200-foot cantilever...

Wikipedia: Lewis and Clark Bridge (Columbia River)

The Lewis and Clark Bridge is a cantilever bridge that spans the Columbia River between Longview, Washington and Rainier, Oregon. At the time of completion, it had the longest cantilever span.[1]

The bridge was open on March 29, 1930, as a privately owned bridge named the Longview Bridge. The $5.8 million cost was recovered by tolls, $1.00 for cars and $.10 for pedestrians. At the time it was the longest and highest cantilever bridge in the United States. The state of Washington purchased the bridge in 1947 and the tolls were removed in 1965 after the bridge was paid for. In 1980 the bridge was rededicated as the Lewis and Clark Bridge in honor of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. The deck was replaced in 2003–04 at a cost of $29.2 million.

The bridge is 8,288 ft (2.5 km) long with 210 ft (64 m) of vertical clearance. The main span is 1,200 ft (366 m) long and the top of the bridge is 340 ft (104 m) above the river. It was designed by Joseph Strauss, engineer of the Golden Gate Bridge.

In 1982, the bridge was entered on the National Register of Historic Places, as the Longview Bridge.[3]

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