New Sellwood Bridge | Completed

[maccoinnich]

Photos: Sellwood Bridge closed for traffic lane shift

The Sellwood Bridge was closed Wednesday morning to allow contractor Slayden/Sundt to shift traffic lanes onto the south side of the bridge’s new east approach. Crews are removing a portion of the concrete bridge railing, removing and relocating signs and light poles, installing new barriers, paving, and striping. When it is re-opened to traffic today, drivers will navigate an s-curve from the east approach to the detour “shoo-fly” bridge.

After the bridge re-opens today, demolition of the eastern span of the old approach will commence, followed by construction of the north half of the approach. On the west side of the project, work continues on the two-level interchange with Highway 43 and construction of retaining walls along the highway’s west side. Work on the river continues with installation of forms in preparation for a concrete pour next week on Bent 5, and underwater demolition of the last pier of the original bridge.

...continues at the DJC (no paywall).

[PDXDENSITY]

Originally Posted by maccoinnich

...continues at the DJC (no paywall).

I dig the design of the new bridge. Can't wait to see it finished. Really hope this sparks a nice riverfront renaissance on the west side of the river and continues the ongoing infill in Sellwood. I still hold a candle to the idea of a rapid street car to Lake Oswego.

[maccoinnich]

Sellwood Bridge budget grows beyond $307.5 million, Multnomah County acknowledges



Replacing the Sellwood Bridge is as much as $9 million over budget even though Multnomah County officials have repeatedly told the public the $307.5 million project has been on track and within budget.

The disclosure came after repeated questions from The Oregonian. Officials acknowledged costs are now expected to exceed the budget by between $3 million and $9.2 million.

Although the overruns represent only about a 1 to 3 percent increase in the total costs, officials aren't sure how they'll pay for it. The city of Portland and Multnomah County previously agreed to split any overruns.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[maccoinnich]

Sellwood Bridge overruns: County budgeted unusually low amount for unexpected costs



As Multnomah County officials seek to downplay cost overruns on the Sellwood Bridge, public records obtained by The Oregonian/OregonLive highlight a key underlying problem: Officials budgeted significantly less money for unexpected costs than government and industry standards call for.

The $307.5 million project includes a 4 percent contingency fund, or $12 million. Federal agencies such as the U.S. General Services Administration recommend contingencies of 7 to 10 percent.

The Associated General Contractors of America says 5 to 10 percent is typical for projects using the county's contracting method for complicated projects, which brings the general contractor onboard at the beginning instead of waiting until designs are done.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[Photogeric]

They have really been busy on this bridge!

[urbanlife]

It is amazing how much wider this new bridge will be.

[davehogan]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

It is amazing how much wider this new bridge will be.

The Adams administration required that it had to be able to carry streetcars in the future. I think those features were mostly built in to the project. I know they were part of the Tacoma Street plan in the late 90's, and I think Sam won that battle with Multnomah County.

Not all the infrastructure is being built now, but the basics will be there so a SoWa extension to Sellwood/Tacoma Street will be more possible in the future. I think this was built in as it became clear Lake Oswego was going to say nope to a MAX line.

The planned routing of the 99X next month via Tacoma to Macadam over the new bridge might be enough for now.

[2oh1]

Originally Posted by urbanlife

It is amazing how much wider this new bridge will be.

It's amazing how narrow the old bridge was!

What's the ETA for completion?

[davehogan]

Originally Posted by 2oh1

It's amazing how narrow the old bridge was!

What's the ETA for completion?

Early 2016, with the Western Interchange a few months later.

[maccoinnich]

Two public events planned to mark new Sellwood Bridge opening



Multnomah County has two community events planned to mark the opening of the new Sellwood Bridge — a final Feb. 25 walk across the original bridge before it is dismantled and a Feb. 27 celebration on the new bridge before it opens to traffic on March 1.

The original bridge, which has remained in use while the new bridge was built, will close to traffic for the last time at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Feb. 25. Half-an-hour later, it will reopen to residents from 7:30 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. for one last chance to say goodbye. Participants are invited to bring flashlights, electric candles, and phone lights for a final walk across the 90-year-old span.

Those taking part should assemble at the east end of the bridge sidewalk at Southeast Grand Avenue before the procession starts at 7:30 pm. There will be time to walk from east to west and back again. The bridge will need to be cleared by 8:30 p.m. so that work to set up the new bridge for traffic can begin.

...continues at the Portland Tribune.

[65MAX]

Wow! I didn't realize they were that close to opening the new bridge. That's fantastic.

[zilfondel]

Bridge opening ceremony is on February 27th, from noon to 4pm.

[maccoinnich]

Reminder: new Sellwood Bridge opening tomorrow.

New Sellwood Bridge opening won't end commute headaches right away



The new Sellwood Bridge opens to traffic Tuesday, but that doesn't mean the long-running traffic nightmare in the area is over.

Several key pieces of the project remain undone, and some can't move forward until the old bridge — used since 2013 as a detour around the new, unfinished span — is removed.

"There's a lot of work that remains to be done," said Multnomah County spokesman Mike Pullen. "It's not like the Tilikum Crossing, where they had the party and it was 100 percent done."

Here are four commuting headaches that aren't going away yet.

...continues at the Oregonian.

[maccoinnich]

Removal of old Sellwood Bridge marks end of an era



After 90 years of serving the public, the original Sellwood Bridge will be only a memory in a week’s time. The last steel span of the original bridge is scheduled to be lowered to a barge on July 12. Removing the old bridge has been one of the most visually interesting parts of the Sellwood project, with many people watching as a familiar landmark slowly disappears.

To understand how the bridge is being deconstructed, it helps to remember its history.

• The Sellwood Bridge was built in 1925. To save money, the bridge was built as one continuous 1100-foot long four-span truss perched on concrete piers.
• In January 2013, the steel truss was slid north and attached to temporary steel piers, which allowed the bridge to be open to traffic while the contractor built the new Sellwood Bridge on the same alignment as the original bridge. Traffic continued to use the old bridge in its new location for three years while the new bridge was built.

When the new bridge opened on February 29, 2016, the original bridge closed and the contractor began the complicated task of removing the old bridge and its temporary supports.

About the demolition team

Since the old bridge was built as one continuous 1100-foot long span, it could not easily be dismantled and removed in sections. It was also coated in lead-based paint, a known health hazard. A specialized team was assembled to deal with these challenges and get the old bridge safely down.

General contractor Slayden-Sundt and McGee Engineering teamed with Emmert International of Clackamas. Emmert International has moved complicated structures ranging from the Spruce Goose (the gigantic wood airplane built by Howard Hughes, which was delivered to the Evergreen Aviation and Space Museum in McMinnville) to the Hotel Fairmount in San Antonio (the largest building ever moved on wheels).

A complicated project

In the past (and still in some parts of the world today) old bridges are taken down with explosives. This has not been done in Oregon for decades, for obvious environmental and safety reasons. Instead, the old Sellwood Bridge is being cut into sections and carefully lowered by hydraulic jacks onto a barge, which will minimize impacts to neighbors, nearby structures, fish species and water quality.

Cutting a thousand-foot-long bridge into sections is not straightforward. Subcontractor Staton Companies began the demolition process by cutting and removing the concrete deck, railings and sidewalk from the old bridge, leaving the green steel skeleton of the truss spans sitting on steel supports. About 2,300 tons (4.6 million pounds) of concrete was removed and recycled as fill material for construction projects.

Strengthening steel was then added to the temporary piers and truss section to counter the forces applied during lowering. Long steel tie-downs were attached to the stub ends of the truss spans to hold the sections in place after the center sections were cut and lowered.

Finally, the cutting began. Workers used oxy-acetylene torches to cut the steel truss span free at each end. The truss span is 28 feet high, so cutting each span section free took at least one day.

The spans were then lowered 50 or 60 feet onto the decks of the barges. The team started lowering each span around dawn and completed the process by evening. Each section weighed between 400,000 and 500,000 pounds and had to be lowered perfectly in unison onto the barge.

Each span was then cut into two or three sections to fit on separate barges and taken ten miles north to the Schnitzer Steel facility, where they were processed for recycling.

Next steps

The in-water work period begins in July. After the truss spans and steel supports are removed, a marine subcontractor will begin removing the 80 steel piles that supported the temporary bridge. By this fall, there will be no remaining sign of the old bridge. The new Sellwood Bridge will have the view all to itself.

...from the Sellwood Bridge website.

[maccoinnich]

Slayden-Sundt joint venture finish Sellwood Bridge



On Wednesday, the busiest two-lane bridge in Oregon will be officially complete.

A decade in the making, the new Sellwood Bridge is the largest project Multnomah County has ever taken on, estimated at $325 million — much more than the amount of the Sauvie Island bridge, which cost $43 million.

...continues at the Business Tribune.

[maccoinnich]

The new multiuse path under the bridge is now open. I think that's all the work complete.

[hat]

Awesome. Is that last picture looking south showing a new path? How far does that path go? Are the detours on to 43 gone? Thanks for the pics.

[maccoinnich]

Originally Posted by hat

Awesome. Is that last picture looking south showing a new path? How far does that path go? Are the detours on to 43 gone? Thanks for the pics.

I don't think there's a formal trail going south, but I didn't check it out. Long term there's a regional goal to get a trail all the way to Lake Oswego. Going north the bridge is fully connected to the Willamette Greenway Trail, via a newly repaved SW Miles Pl. There's no need to walk or cycle on Macadam any more.