Burnside Bridge to reopen late next week

The Burnside Bridge is expected to reopen to motor vehicles late next week. The bridge will not be ready to reopen on Monday, October 8 as originally planned. The target date for reopening is four or five days after October 8.
Replacing the counterweight hinge assembly is the most technically challenging repair in the two-year project. The repairs have taken longer than expected because the old parts were more difficult to remove than anticipated. Despite using different methods, the contractor was unable to remove parts of the hinge by pushing or pulling. Instead, the 13-inch diameter steel pins had to be slowly drilled out. After that initial delay, the 3.8 million pound counterweight was successfully lowered with a jacking system so that other parts could be removed and replaced.
Several night-time bridge closures will be needed to remove the jacking system after the bridge reopens to traffic. The current schedule calls for the bridge to be closed at night on October 12 and 13, but those dates are subject to change. The bridge is closed to motor vehicles. Pedestrians and bicyclists are able to cross the bridge during most of the repair, but occasionally the bridge will be closed to ALL traffic for delicate operations and safety issues; and river traffic is not affected.

So, Sunday you can bike on both the Sellwood and the Burnside, without cars!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *