In 1887, a bridge was built across the Willamette River at Albany for the Corvallis and Eastern Railroad followed by the Steel Bridge built in 1893 just downriver.[1] The state of Oregon began building a new bridge across the river at the city in 1925 to carry vehicular traffic.[2] Designed by state highway department bridge designer Conde McCullough, it was constructed by the Union Bridge Company based in Portland, Oregon.[2] The steel truss structure was completed in 1926.[3]
When the bridge opened, the Albany-Corvallis Highway was completed.[4] At the time the structure was named the Albany Bridge.[4] In 1973, the neighboring Lyon Street Bridge was completed to the east to expand capacity to a total of four lanes between the two bridges.[3] Ellsworth Street Bridge was refurbished in 1971 and 2002.[3][5] As of 2004, the bridge handled an average of 9,850 cars per day.[5]
Details
Classified as functionally obsolete with a 53.8-percent sufficiency rating, the two-lane bridge carries eastbound traffic of U.S. Route 20 south into downtown Albany at milepost 10.44.[2][5] The bridge's main span consists of four steel through-trusses in the Parker style, each 200 feet (61 m) in length.[2] Ellsworth Street Bridge is a total of 1,090 feet (330 m) long and 26 feet (7.9 m) wide with a vertical clearance of 25 feet (7.6 m).[2][5] The seven concrete approaches are of a girder design.[5] The green colored bridge also has ornate concrete railings and entrance pylons.[2] Ellsworth Street Bridge was of the few steel truss bridges completed while McCullough was in charge of bridge design in Oregon, and it is one of the few multi-span steel truss bridges remaining in the state.[4]
The 1893-built Steel Bridge was replaced by the Ellsworth Street Bridge in 1926.
^ abcLink, Gary (1990). "Albany Bridge"(PDF). Historic American Buildings Survey/Historic American Engineering Record/Historic American Landscapes Survey. Library of Congress. Retrieved April 21, 2008.
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