Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge

The Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge will serve light rail trains, pedestrians, cyclists, and in the future, Portland Streetcar. Bus lines 9, 17 and 19, which currently travel on the Ross Island Bridge, may also change routes to use the new bridge (Decisions about bus line planning in regards to the entire project will occur through a service planning public process). The bridge will not serve private vehicles, but will be able to accommodate emergency vehicles.

 

Bridge facts

  • Four-pier cable-stayed bridge type (two piers on land, two in the water at the towers)
  • Approximately 1720 feet in length
  • Two towers, each 180 feet high
  • Typical width is 75.5 feet; at the towers, the width is 110.5 feet
  • Five spans
  • Approximately 3.5 miles of cable
  • Two 14-feet-wide bicycle and pedestrian paths

 

Learn how the cable-stayed bridge design was chosen.

 

Light rail bridge construction

November 2011-March 2012

Construction work was successfully completed during the 2011 in-water work window with the completion of two temporary work bridges and the cofferdams around the sites where the bridge's two towers will be built. Starting in November 2011, crews began drilling six shafts inside the west cofferdam as the first step in creating a foundation for the west tower. These shafts are drilled by the oscillation of 10-foot-diameter casings 150 to 170 feet into the riverbed..

Once the drilling is completed, rebar frames are lowered into each shaft, and then concrete is poured into the shafts to create piers. When the concrete hardens, a concrete pile cap will be constructed over the six piers, uniting them into a tower foundation. The west tower foundation work is expected to be complete in February 2012. Work on shaft drilling for the east tower foundation will begin in March 2012.

In February 2012, shafts will be drilled for the bridge's landside pier on the west bank of the river.

 

Learn what happens during each phase of bridge construction.

 

Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail BridgeCams

View live footage of construction of the light rail bridge, and time-lapse footage of construction progress.

 

BridgeView Videos

Watch behind-the-scenes videos about construction of the Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge.

 

Slow/no wake zone and exclusion zones

From June 15, 2011, through December 2012, a slow/no wake zone will be in effect to ensure the safety of Willamette River users and construction workers. Beginning July 1, 2011, an exclusion area around the in-water bridge construction site goes into effect.