PACIFIC NORTHWEST EDITION
A Supplement to:
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September 26 2021 Vol. V • No. 20
“The Nation’s Best Read Construction Newspaper… Founded in 1957.” Your Pacific Northwest Connection – Patrick Kiel – 1-877-7CEGLTD – pkiel@cegltd.com
A $38 million project in Oregon’s Yamhill County will replace a 70-year-old bridge with a new, wider bridge designed to accommodate the growing vehicle and pedestrian traffic on the main access into the city of McMinnville. The Yamhill River Bridge was built in 1951 and has seen better days, said Lou Torres, spokesman of the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT). “We try to maintain the old bridges as best we can so they are drivable and we don’t have to spend money building new,” said Torres. “This one has been showing its age. We’ve been talking about replacement for 10 years now. A number of components are falling apart. Not the substructure, but the railing is deteriorating, the sidewalk is crumbling. The existing bridge is also very narrow. It’s just time to replace the bridge.” The existing bridge is a 3-mi. lane or spur road that comes off of Highway 18 running along the southern portion of McMinnville. ODOT originally considered building a new bridge without first constructing a diversion bridge, but decided a straight bridge replacement would put too much stress on the nearby neighborhoods with an average of 16,000 cars and trucks trying to find alternate routes into town.
By Lori Tobias
CEG CORRESPONDENT
see UPGRADE page 6
ODOT originally considered building a new bridge without first constructing a diversion bridge, but decided a straight bridge replacement would put too much stress on the nearby neighborhoods.