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University of Oregon Demolishes Iconic Hayward Field By Lori Tobias
CEG CORRESPONDENT
Crews are busy prepping the construction site of the University of Oregon track field that is already being billed as the “world’s finest track and field facility.” Built in 1919 to be a football stadium, Hayward Field was named for coach Bill Hayward, known as the “grand old man,” and a coach at the University of Oregon for 44 years. In 1921, the cinder track was installed bordering the football field, and in 1925, a wooden grandstand added. In the 1970s, the track was upgraded and designated for use only for track and field. In its 100-year history, it is reputedly the “nation’s most storied track and field venue,” home of legends, including the late Steve Prefontaine, and the host site of “more USA Olympic Track and Field Trials and NCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championships …
than any other venue,” according to the university press release. Salvaging Part of Historic Stadium One day after the NCAA national finals ended at the track field in Eugene, work began on salvaging parts of the historic stadium. “They are salvaging the seating and the wood,” said Zack Barnett, who is overseeing Hayward Field see HAYWARD page 6
The new Hayward Field is set to open in 2020 and host the World Track and Field Championships in 2021.
Built in 1919 to be a football stadium, Hayward Field was named for coach Bill Hayward, known as the “grand old man,” and a coach at the University of Oregon for 44 years.
Nutter Family Foundation Hosts 14th Annual Dozer Day
By Katherine Devlin
for Dozer Day’s first-ever Career Fair. Students had the opportunity to operate machinery, meet with construction-related business owners and visit exhibits meant to showcase career opportunities available in the construction industry.
CEG EDITORIAL ASSISTANT
The Nutter Family Foundation held its 14th annual Dozer Day May 19 to 20, 2018, at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Ridgefield, Wash. This year, the foundation partnered with Evergreen Public Schools to host special needs students at a Dozer Day sneak preview. The preview was specifically geared to the children and included a ribbon-cutting ceremony. Kids had the chance to operate dozers, dump trucks, excavators and more. Career Fair For the first time, the Nutter Family Foundation and Evergreen Public Schools hosted 200 design-build students
Nutter Family Foundation photo
Many local construction equipment dealers were sponsors of the event.
Dozer Day Sponsors Sponsors for the 2018 annual Dozer Day are: • Clark County Fair • Chuck’s Produce • Ness Campbell Crane & Rigging • Dirt Logic LLC • Cadman Heidelberg Cement Group • RDO Equipment Company • Les Schwab Tires see DOZER page 8
Page 2 • July 8, 2018 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Pacific Northwest Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
Kent, WA (800) 669-2425 Rochester, WA (800) 304-4421 Spokane, WA (800) 541-0754 Boise, ID (800) 221-5211 Pocatello, ID (800) 829-4450 Billings, MT (800) 735-2589 Kalispell, MT (800) 434-4190 Missoula, MT (800) 332-1617 Eugene, OR (800) 826-9811 Portland, OR (800) 950-7779 Magadan, Russia 011-7-41326-99298 Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Russia 011-7-42424-69051
Construction Equipment Guide • Pacific Northwest Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • July 8, 2018 • Page 3
Contact your local dealer:
Dealer Name WASHINGTON: Seattle, WA 8207 South 216th Street City, ST Kent, Washington 98032 123.456.7890 206.762.5933 Manager: City, ST Brian Burke bburke@PacWestMachinery.com 123.456.7890 Spokane, WA 4030 East Trent Avenue City, ST Spokane, Washington 99202 123.456.7890 509.534.5933 Manager: City, ST Scott Upton supton@PacWestMachinery.com 123.456.7890
OREGON:
City, ST Portland, OR 123.456.7890 19255 NE Sandy Boulevard Portland, Oregon 97230 503.252.5933 City, ST 123.456.7890 Manager: Tim Hurst thurst@PacWestMachinery.com City, ST Eugene, OR 123.456.7890 1550 Irving Road Eugene, Oregon 97402 City, ST 541.302.3762 123.456.7890 Manager: Tim Hurst thurst@PacWestMachinery.com City, ST PacWestMachinery.com 123.456.7890
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Page 4 • July 8, 2018 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Pacific Northwest Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
World’s-Largest Internet Retailer Updates Seattle’s Skyline Amazon has become the first place consumers go to shop for almost anything. In its hometown of Seattle, the corporation has taken over 3.3 million sq. ft. on three city blocks to create an Amazon neighborhood for its 55,000 Seattle employees. Located in the Denny Regrade Triangle in downtown Seattle, the campus consists of three 37-story high-rise office towers, two mid-rise office buildings and a multipurpose meeting center in the shape of three glass domes. The glass domes, called “the Spheres,” opened to the public and Amazonians at the end of January 2018. Putzmeister’s BSA 14000 HPD4 8 in. and BSA 2110 HP-D4 trailer pumps; MX 36/40Z placing boom; 20Z-, 31Z-, 40Z-, 47Z-, 56Z-, 61-, 63Z-meter boom pumps all were utilized to bring the project to fruition. General contractor Sellen called upon Brundage-Bone Concrete Pumping’s Kent, Wash., location to handle the operation’s concrete needs. Brundage-Bone was all hands on-deck, bringing its best fleet to the job site. “When you ask an operator what they want to operate, it’s typically Putzmeister,” said Mark Young, Brundage-Bone national fleet manager. “They have the features that make their lives easier.” The First of Three Construction began on the first building, which was named
Brundage-Bone poured the mat for Amazon’s Spheres. The Spheres serve as a relaxing getaway for Amazon’s 55,000 Seattle employees.
Doppler after Amazon’s internal code name for Alexa, in 2013. Designed by Seattle architecture firm NBBJ, the building is 1 million sq. ft. and includes a five-story meeting center, parking garage and 36 additional floors of office space, eateries and employee amenities. A job site in the middle of a bustling city presents contractors with extra challenges, including space restrictions and street permits required by the city. Depending on the city, these permits can become very expensive and/or restrictive. In the case of Seattle, it was the latter; the job site
for Amazon’s neighborhood allowed for a tight set up of only 29 ft. wide. “A congested city block always makes things a little more difficult,” said Shawn Jameson, operations and placing boom manager at Brundage-Bone. “Putzmeister’s boom pumps are configured to minimize the footprint.” The 11,000-cu. yd. mat pour began with the large boom pumps. As construction on the building continued to reach higher stories, Brundage-Bone added a MX 36/40 placing boom to the site. With a tight set up, the crew used
the horizontal reach on the boom pump up to 204 ft. before needing to switch to a placing boom. The tower, used in conjunction with an adapter, was able to free stand 80 ft. Other placing booms were mounted on the core wall with an x-frame on top of a wall climbing system. “Our equipment was put to the test with this pour,” Jameson said. Up to the Test Day One, the second of the three high-rise buildings, includes office space, meeting space, a parking garage, various restaurants and
employee amenities. The name of the building comes from the founder of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. He has been known to say every day at Amazon is “Day One” because there is always something new to experiment, innovate or invent. The construction on Day One also pushed General Contractor Sellen to break a company record. The 1.5 million sq. ft. building required the largest concrete mat pour in its history. “The pour took 12 hours and we were able to complete the entire pour without a single mechanical error,” Jameson said. A 61-meter and 63Z-meter boom pumps were used to complete the 11,700-cu. yd. pour. The one-sided support (OSS) outrigger system on these large pumps allowed the operator to reduce the outrigger extension on one side of the unit to create a smaller overall machine footprint. “The outrigger configuration and ease of placing boom equipment was incredibly important for this particular job,” Jameson said. The tower opened to Amazon’s employees and the public in November 2016, and sits adjacent to the Spheres. A Relaxing Spot to Get Away The most recently finished Spheres are a marvel on the city block. They sit in the middle of Amazon’s neighborhood as a place for employees to get away and see AMAZON page 9
Inside Amazon’s Block 20 pour.
Brundage-Bone’s Kent, Wash., location brought its entire Putzmeister fleet to the Amazon site, including the 47Z-Meter boom pump.
Construction Equipment Guide • Pacific Northwest Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • July 8, 2018 • Page 5
Sinkholes, Poison Gas, Dynamite: Inside Abandoned Mines By Nicole Foy ASSOCIATED PRESS
NAMPA, Idaho (AP) A centuryold gold mine is a curious place, and that’s a problem for those whose job it is to find bats and blasting caps as worrisome as the public finds them to be wondrous. When the 2015 fire in Owyhee County finally burned out, a team of experts from the Bureau of Land Management followed closely behind the wildland firefighters assessing the safety of public land known as the Owyhee Front. The Soda Fire burned 280,000 acres in southwest Idaho and eastern Oregon. The blaze damaged 28 mi. of roads and 150 mi. of recreation trails, severely diminishing grazing acreage in Owyhee County and requiring the rescue of 283 wild horses. But what concerned this BLM team were the abandoned gold mines that lay beneath the surface of the public land in the Owyhee Front — hazards exposed by the fire. Abandoned mines are any mining sites that were vacated before Jan. 1, 1981, when BLM’s surface management regulations took effect. Those abandoned mines, and thousands more spread across Idaho, are an ongoing risk and expense for both Idaho and the federal government. Experts from the Bureau of Land Management, the Forest Service and the Idaho Department of Lands must balance limited funding, resource extraction, public safety and the unique problems that come from cleaning up messes dating back to the era of the Civil War. Gold mining of ore deposits in sand and gravel began in Silver City in 1863, and lode mining began in 1865 at the Morning Star mine in Silver City. On BLM land alone, the Idaho abandoned mine lands staff have identified and inventoried 1,480 abandoned mine sites in Idaho and 8,224 mine features — which could be anything from a 200-ft.deep mine shaft to an old building — on those sites. There are about 210 known mines on state land, more on Forest Service land and
unknown numbers on privately held land across Idaho. The Idaho Geological Survey database has mapped 9,000 active, abandoned and prospect mine sites in Idaho but estimate that there may be 8,000 more not yet included in the database. So far, abandoned mines staff have repaired 923 abandoned mines across Idaho. Phil Barbarick, the Idaho abandoned mine lands team lead, said 824 of those were physical safety hazards and 99 were environmental hazards. “We think there’s probably double that out there,” Barbarick said. When weather allows, BLM abandoned mine and minerals staff work from several field offices at sites across the state: cleaning an old mercury mine in Homedale, conducting emergency repairs on collapsing mines in Silver City, or monitoring potential contamination of streams and rivers from mining areas in the Coeur d’Alene Basin. On April 25, the Idaho Press joined a few members of the abandoned mine lands staff from the state and Boise district offices in their first follow-up inspection of mine features in the Owyhee Front since their initial visit following the 2015 fire. After the Owyhee Front visit, BLM staff headed up to Silver City to continue repairing a mine that collapsed at the end of January. The collapse of the Silver City gold mine created a 15-by-25-ft. sinkhole next to the community park and near a campground frequented by visitors. The mine shaft was showing signs of strain again in April, and its proximity to populated areas meant repairing it was a higher priority, said abandoned mines specialist Carrie Wontorcik. There are 19 abandoned gold or silver mines and 116 abandoned mine features — mine workings, structures, waste rock or ore piles — within a half-mile of downtown Silver City. “We’ve been focused on Silver City because herds of Boiseans go up there,” Barbarick said. Miners prospected for gold and other minerals across Owyhee County starting in the 1860s,
drilling into the hills of the Owyhee Front until World War II slowed the work to a standstill. When the money for mining operations ran out, Barbarick said, miners usually dropped whatever they were working on and just left, leaving dynamite, blasting caps and precarious mines behind. Before the Soda Fire burned through this area of the Owyhee Front, the abandoned mine staff knew there were likely a number of abandoned mines in the area that could be dangerous for anyone who stumbled upon them. However, the relative isolation of the area and thick grass covering the features meant discovery was unlikely. Abandoned mine lands staff repair or restrict access to open mining features by filling them with polyurethane foam, back-filling with dirt, covering entrances with a metal grate, or installing a culvert with a grate for bats. Even abandoned mine lands surveyors, tasked with estimating how deep into the ground or how far into the hill the mining tunnels go, don’t go farther into the mines than they have to, if at all. Weathered rock and wood could have weakened the structural integrity of the mine entrance or tunnel, wildlife could be living inside, sharp metal rods could protrude from the wall or floor and water could obscure more dangerous objects. Barbarick said staff have found dynamite and old blasting caps left behind in Idaho mines. Sometimes, staff have had to call in the police bomb squad from the closest police force or the Mountain Home Air Force base. “Even driving into an abandoned mine lands area is dangerous, because these workings go right under roads, and we’ve had a logging truck fall into an adit [mine entrance] in the Salmon Field Office,” Barbarick said. The Soda Fire could have also caused more dangerous, unseen damage to the abandoned mines in the Owyhee Front. Fires near or in mines can change the air in the mine, even if it was previously safe to breathe. Barbarick said mines in the West don’t usually emit the
poisonous gases that coal mines back East do, but lack of oxygen or extra carbon monoxide can kill just as quickly. For this reason, Barbarick said, the BLM surveyor who estimated the depth of one of the Owyhee mines to be 250 ft. deep, likely came to that estimate by gauging the amount of waste rock miners left near the site. “He doesn’t want to go into something he might not get out of,” Barbarick said. There’s an active claimant — someone who has located, staked and recorded a mining claim — on the Stewart Gulch mine, so the culvert the abandoned mine lands staff installed over one feature includes a locked grate. If the claimant ever applied and was approved by the BLM Minerals department to begin mining in that area, they would have to post a bond that would cover any further repairs on the site. “That hazard is going to be taken care of by us or the mining claimant,” Barbarick said. Despite the danger, people continue to explore — and sometimes, die — on abandoned mine lands. In 1995, two men died from lack of oxygen while exploring the Vulcan Mine in North Idaho, after a campfire near the portal filled the mine with carbon dioxide, according to the Spokesman-Review. A mountain climber from Rexburg fell to his death rappelling into the abandoned Maryland Mine in the Salmon-Challis National Forest in 2003, the Associated Press reported. After remarking to his friends above that the air was a little thin, the rope went slack and he fell more than 100 ft. to his death. Barbarick said pine timbers had replaced the oxygen in the mine with carbon dioxide. In early 2018, a Utah man murdered a teen couple and tossed their bodies down an abandoned silver mine shaft on private land in Eureka, Utah. According to a report by the Associated Press, the state is considering closing the mine and several others in area. The abandoned mine lands team’s areas of concern in Idaho are the Coeur d’Alene Basin, the
so-called Hailey Gold Belt in Camas and Blaine counties, Pocatello and Owyhee County — especially Silver City. All four locations were significant locations in Idaho’s mining history and close enough to population centers to pose significant public safety risks. For this reason, BLM’s abandoned mine lands staff are, like many in Idaho, concerned by the state’s rapid growth. The rising population of the Treasure Valley, in particular, is changing the agency’s priorities as it constantly evaluates which of the thousands of mine features need to be repaired or blocked immediately. “One of the biggest challenges we run into is the thought that these mines have been around for 100 years and nobody has gotten hurt,” Wontorcik said. “Well, in the first 20 years, it was a working mine. People were in it and it was managed. The next 20 to 40 years, people just didn’t have access out to these remote areas.” That changed, Wontorcik said, with the popularization of ATVs and the subsequent rise of thrillseekers documenting their adventures on social media. While they appreciate the problem stems from a revitalized interest in recreation on public land, people are rarely aware of the risk. “Their ability to get out into these far-out places — where nobody has gotten hurt in the last 20 years — has grown exponentially,” Wontorcik said. “But so has the risk.” Whether it’s a young couple walking into a mine with nothing but two flashlights and two kids, or teenagers dropping pipe bombs down a shaft just to watch them explode, videos or social media documentation of mining features immediately bumps them up the list of features to be closed off from the public. “This is why we do this — because people are curious,” Wontorcik said. For more information, visit idahopress.com. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)
Page 6 • July 8, 2018 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Pacific Northwest Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
Crews Demolish Hayward to Make Way for New Stadium HAYWARD from page 1
communications. “They don’t make timbers like that anymore. They are salvaging them for three purposes: some will be reused; some will go into a museum and some be part of a public process where we determine how to distribute the remaining salvaged materials that will not be utilized in the project. That’s really it. It will be a brand new facility from the ground up aside from salvaged pieces. It really will be the world’s finest track and field facility, designed around giving our student athletes the world-class facilities to succeed.” Features of the New Stadium A university press release describes the new stadium as offering unobstructed views from every one of the spacious seats, putting fans right on top of the action in an arena that visually represents the state of Oregon. “Runners, jumpers and throwers hoping to add to the 20 world records set at Hayward Field will enjoy state-of-the-art locker rooms, practice spaces and athletic medicine rooms. Students and researchers in the Department of Human Physiology will make groundbreaking discoveries in new laboratory and classroom spaces. “The Powell Plaza fan entrance to the stadium will honor Hayward Field’s storied past, with an exhibition on visionary coaching legend Bill Bowerman on the first level of the Bowerman Tower, and from the moment fans, athletes and researchers step inside Hayward Field, they will enjoy unparalleled experience at every turn in the best track and field stadium in the world. “Hayward Field will be the finest track and field facility in the world, while weaving its way into the campus fabric in a host of ways. “A rebuilt Powell Plaza acts as the main entrance to the stadium at the northeast corner of the site, at the intersection of Agate Street and 15th Avenue. This open space is reinvented and will be newly maintained, anchoring this part of the project’s edge to the community. “Another open plaza will anchor the northwest corner of the project.
The tower will feature a specific use for each of the nine floors and is named in honor of Coach Bill Bowerman, who coached the 1972 Olympic team.
One day after the NCAA national finals ended at the track field in Eugene, work began on salvaging parts of the historic stadium.
Hayward Field is the home of legends, including the late Steve Prefontaine.
This provides entry for Human Physiology and a second gateway to campus. Both plazas will flow seamlessly into a new 15th Avenue park development. An east-west pedestrian corridor adjacent to the south end of the stadium connects Agate Street to practice fields and runs through to University Street. This connection will also incorporate a pedestrian ramp providing views into the stadium.” Hayward Field will feature more than 12,000 permanent seats, with temporary seating expanding the capacity to about 30,000. Honoring Coach Bill Bowerman Coach Bill Bowerman coached the 1972 Olympic team, as well as 31 Olympic athletes in his career. He also co-founded Nike with Oregon Ducks alum Phil Knight. The tower named in his honor will feature a specific use for each of the nine floors. “The 165-foot tall, nine-story tower is anchored to the stadium base at the northeast corner of the stadium, surrounded by a pool of water. It can be accessed from inside or outside the security gate and can be enjoyed year-round. It features a lobby filled with inter-
pretive exhibits, an observation deck, viewing areas, stairway, elevator and a training staircase to the top. Its perforated metal skin and steel form flare upward and outward to resemble a torch, a shape inspired by the Olympic torch. The torch becomes a campus landmark, with a lasting visual elegance.” The new Hayward Field is set to open in 2020 and host the World Track and Field Championships in 2021. “If you look at some of those renderings, it really is intended to preserve the intimacy of Hayward Field,” Barnett said. “Track fans refer to this as home to the greatness. This is due north in the track and field world. I just went to the Prefontaine event in May. It’s always amazing when you go to an event at Hayward Field, you are right at the track. This is Track Town USA for a reason. This community is known around the world for supporting track and field and this facility is designed to enhance that.” (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.) CEG
Construction Equipment Guide • Pacific Northwest Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • July 8, 2018 • Page 7
Page 8 • July 8, 2018 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Pacific Northwest Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
Students Operate Machines, Talk Careers at Dozer Day
Nutter Family Foundation photo
Students had the opportunity to operate machinery, meet with construction-related business owners and visit exhibits meant to showcase career opportunities available in the construction industry. Nutter Family Foundation photo
DOZER from page 1
The Nutter Family Foundation held its 14th annual Dozer Day May 19 to 20, 2018, at the Clark County Fairgrounds in Ridgefield, Wash.
• Michael Nutter Jewelers • Nutter Corporation • Papé Machinery • NW Natural • Pacific Landscape Services Inc. • Parties Inc. • Peterson Cat • Robinson Construction Co. •Southwest Wash. Contractors Association (SWCA) • Waste Connections Inc. The Foundation The Nutter Family Foundation was established in 2006 to “give children the opportunity to develop their talents” according to a press release. The foundation has provided more than $1 million to fund children’s charity grants. For more information, visit Vancouver.dozerday.org. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s Nutter Family Foundation photo website at www.constructionequip- Kids had the chance to operate dozers, dump trucks, excavators and more. mentguide.com.) CEG
Nutter Family Foundation photo
This year, the foundation partnered with Evergreen Public Schools to host special needs students at a Dozer Day sneak preview.
Nutter Family Foundation photo
The Nutter Family Foundation has provided more than $1 million to fund children’s charity grants.
Nutter Family Foundation photo
Equipment operators had the chance to influence the next generation.
Construction Equipment Guide • Pacific Northwest Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • July 8, 2018 • Page 9
Amazon Project Calls for Massive Amount of Concrete
A job site in the middle of a busy city presents extra challenges for the crews. AMAZON from page 4
relax. They contain tens of thousands of plants and trees from around the world. Since their unveiling in late-January 2018, they have been delighting visitors. “Our goal with The Spheres was to create a unique gathering place where employees could collaborate and innovate together,” said Amazon vice president John Schoettler in a statement. “From the moment we started construction, people would stand on the street corners taking photographs.” The largest sphere is 130 ft. in diameter and is flanked by two smaller spheres on either side. The incredible structures created site challenges of their own — narrow openings and low clearances. A 31Z-meter boom pump was crucial to the pour for its flexibility and maneuverability. It can be strategically positioned for precise concrete placement in unusual job sites, like the Denny Regrade Triangle. The smaller pump was able to reach through the glass window openings to pour a concrete wall that today is home to thriving vegetation. “As the centerpiece of this truly amazing workplace, we knew our equipment could get the job done accurately and efficiently,” Jameson said. Poured with white concrete in conjunction with a lot of artistic shotcrete for a very unique look and feel, the Spheres contain 620 tons of steel, 12 million lbs. of concrete and 2,643 panes of glass. The shotcrete was sprayed using a Thom-Katt TK 50 trailer pump.
Changing the Skyline The final building to complete the neighborhood, Block 20, is sized at 1.6 million sq. ft. and is said to reshape the Seattle skyline. The building is scheduled for completion in late 2019. Brundage-Bone poured 10,222 yds. of concrete for the mat footing in July 2017 using a variety of concrete equipment. The office building will be a 45-story building constructed of a steel structure with a concrete core and decks. When the building is finished, Brundage-Bone will have poured nearly 90,000 yds. of concrete. “I’ve worked with Putzmeister concrete pumps for 20 years,” said Joshua Armstrong of Brundage-Bone. “They’re the best pumps I’ve ever run.” Conclusion When the neighborhood is completed in 2021, a grand total of 270,000 yds. of concrete between three buildings will have been poured. The new Amazon headquarters will change the Seattle skyline and Denny Regrade Triangle neighborhood, and it will give employees of the largest Internet retailer a new place to call home. The project continues to progress day-by-day, and with Brundage-Bone and their fleet, the project continues to go off without a hitch. For more information about Putzmeister, visit www.PutzmeisterAmerica.com. (This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)
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WASHINGTON Tacoma (253) 722-5560 • (800) 622-8876 Spokane (509) 534-1900 • (800) 945-9168 Mt. Vernon (360) 488-3948
Page 10 • July 8, 2018 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Pacific Northwest Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
Why Are Bridges Green? The Story Starts In Oregon By Erin Ross ASSOCIATED PRESS
PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Drive across Oregon and it’s hard not to notice that many of the state’s steel bridges — from the foggy coast to high desert — are the same shade of sage green. It’s so ubiquitous that the paint’s manufacturer calls it “ODOT Green” after Oregon’s Department of Transportation. But ODOT Green — a color that started a national phenomenon — is a color that almost didn’t happen: Oregon’s first green-painted bridge, the St. Johns, was initially supposed to be striped black and yellow like a bumblebee. It wasn’t. But green bridges began there, with the St. Johns and the two men who competed to build it: David B. Steinman and Conde McCullough. Both were bridge engineers who believed firmly in the aesthetic possibilities of bridges, and both were self-made men who rose from poverty to national prominence. But that’s where the similarities end. Steinman saw himself as a visionary poet and artist. McCullough was a quiet intellectual whose curiosity led him to pursue a law degree by attending night classes. Steinman was a prolific author who alienated his colleagues by publishing self-promoting autobiographical articles in engineering journals. McCullough, on the other hand, wrote practical books on engineering and economics. Much of what we know about him comes from oral history interviews done by ODOT’s senior historian, Robert Hadlow. Hadlow describes McCullough as a clever man with a quiet sense of humor, who he’d “enjoy a conversation with.” The two men submitted their contracts in 1928 for the St. Johns Bridge, which would span the Willamette River and connect Northeast and Northwest Portland. The selection process was controversial: Some wanted the bridge to be designed by a local like McCullough. Others wanted someone with a national reputation. Ultimately, a committee chose
ODOT Green — a color that started a national phenomenon — is a color that almost didn’t happen.
Steinman. He was inspired by the hills and evergreens that surrounded Portland and wanted the bridge to match. The suspension-style that he ultimately chose included soaring Gothic arches topped with copper spires, which were intended to complement the “evergreen spires” on the trees around it. Steinman considered the bridge to be a work of art. But representatives of the nearby airfield were worried they’d crash into it. They wanted it painted black with yellow stripes. Steinman wouldn’t have it, and neither would the Multnomah County commission. On March 17, 1931 (St. Patrick’s Day, appropriately) it was announced that the St Johns bridge would be painted the redundantly-named “verde green.” The decision to do so was fairly radical: at the time, almost all bridges were painted black or grey. There may have only been one other colorful bridge in the country at the time — the Steinmandesigned Mount Hope Bridge in Rhode Island, which was also green. Steinman loved the St. Johns bridge, and said it was his favorite. “My best poem,” he told his biographer William Ratigan, “a prayer in steel.” While the St. Johns bridge was
the state’s first green-painted bridge, it’s not where ODOT Green started. That specific shade of green, it seems, was McCullough’s doing, and first appeared in 1933 on the John McLoughlin bridge. The John McLoughlin Bridge carries Highway 99E across the Clackamas River, connecting Oregon City to Gladstone. “From an engineering perspective, it really is an elegant bridge,” Hadlow said. And the American Institute for Steel Construction recognized that — there’s a plaque on the bridge declaring it “the most beautiful bridge of its class.” When it was announced that McCullough’s bridge won, though, there was a small problem: the bridge was painted black. But the image McCullough’s illustrator submitted to the contest showed the bridge tinted green. McCullough had to make sure that the bridge matched the illustration before he could receive the award. Thankfully, McCullough was “the boss of the bridge unit at the time,” according to Ray Bottenberg, ODOT’s bridge preservation managing engineer, “so he probably just said ‘go buy some green paint’ and sent a crew out there.” By the time the plaque arrived,
the bridge was what we now know as ODOT Green. The John McLoughlin Bridge is still that color today. McCullough went on to construct dozens more steel bridges across the state. And all were painted that color. His most famous bridges line the Oregon Coast. He envisioned Highway 101 — which follows the shore and is dotted with scenic overlooks and waysides — as a necklace of pearls. He wanted his bridges to serve as the clasps that complemented the state’s natural beauty without upstaging it. Today, those ODOT Green bridges are iconic. The Yaquina Bay Bridge is widely considered to be one of McCullough’s best and is an Oregon landmark. “It’s well executed, and it fits the location so well,” Hadlow said. McCullough clearly thought that the color complemented the entire state, and not just the waterlogged region west of the Cascades. The Crooked River High Bridge in Central Oregon’s Jefferson County, among others, wears the color as well. McCullough spread the ODOT Green across Oregon, while Steinman spread other greens across the country. All of his future bridges would be one or more
shades of green. Steinman would even go so far as to claim that he invented the concept of painting bridges with colors. “The success of my innovation is attested by its widespread adoption by various State Highway Departments, also by its adoption for parkway spans and public authority bridges in New York City,” Steinman later wrote. It’s unclear, though, to what extent Steinman can truly take credit for the popularity of green bridges. He and McCullough were contemporaries and their bridges were studied closely and copied by their colleagues. And it’s McCullough’s color that reigns supreme today: Technically, the paint is “federal standard 595 color 24272,” but nobody calls it that. From New Hampshire to Washington and even Canada, uncoated steel structures are painted ODOT Green. And as of its most recent paint job, the St. Johns Bridge is, too (pour one out for “verde green”). ODOT still coats old steel structures with this paint. “I’m not sure there’s a rational reason for using the color, other than that we’ve always done it that way,” Bottenberg said. “No one’s really questioned that they were green. I don’t think it’s more complicated than that.” ODOT Green is well-suited to the Northwest: its special coating cures best in damp weather. In a place like Arizona, the paint would never dry. But the color is noticeably absent on Oregon’s newer bridges. “Nowadays we favor concrete bridges, because you don’t have to paint them” Bottenberg said. And when new steel bridges are constructed, they’re made out of weathering steel, which develops a protective red-rust coating and doesn’t need to be painted. Paint, according to Bottenberg, is as much for maintenance as aesthetics. And if it’s not necessary, it’s not used. But Bottenberg, for one, is fond of ODOT Green. “It kind of fits Oregon’s mentality.”
(This story also can be found on Construction Equipment Guide’s website at www.constructionequipmentguide.com.)
Construction Equipment Guide • Pacific Northwest Supplement • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • July 8, 2018 • Page 11
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Efficiency & High Performance.
Page 12 • July 8, 2018 • www.constructionequipmentguide.com • Pacific Northwest Supplement • Construction Equipment Guide
The LH50M Industry material handler represents efficiency and high performance. The standard Liebherr regenerative power system assures maximum handling while, at the same time, achieving lower fuel consumption. Quiet operation with the highest payload is guaranteed by the large, sturdy undercarriage. The attachment of the machine is available in a variety of versions and is thus always optimally matched to your respective application.
18060 Des Moines Memorial Dr. Seattle, WA 98148 3909 NW Fruit Valley Rd Vancouver, WA 98660