Curt Dewees
---------- Forwarded message ----------
From: Geller, Roger
Date: Mon, Oct 27, 2008 at 4:01 PM
Subject: FW: Hawthorne Bridge closed Tuesday for emergency repair
To:
fyi
------------------------------
*From:* PULLEN Mike J [mailto:mike.j.pullen@co.multnomah.or.us]
*Sent:* Monday, October 27, 2008 3:57 PM
*Subject:* Hawthorne Bridge closed Tuesday for emergency repair
This news release is also available
online
.
Release: October 27, 2008
Contact: Michael Pullen, Public Affairs Office, 503-209-4111
*Hawthorne* Bridge to close *Tuesday for emergency repair *
An emergency repair will require the Hawthorne Bridge to be closed to all
users on Tuesday, October 28 starting at 9:00 am. During the closure a
county crew will perform a temporary repair on a wire cable called an uphaul
operating rope. The bridge lift span will need to be in the raised position
during the repair. Crews hope to complete the repair and reopen the bridge
to traffic by 4:00 pm.
The damaged cable was discovered on Sunday during an unrelated repair. The
one-inch diameter steel cable was nearly severed. The cable connects the
lift span with a fixed bridge tower and pulls the 900-ton lift span up and
holds it in place when the bridge opens for river traffic. The damaged
cable is one of four similar cables. The other cables are in good working
order. An initial inspection of the damaged cable indicates it probably was
damaged over time and not by a sudden movement. The cable was installed in
1998.
Crews plan to splice a new section of cable into the damaged one to
reinforce it until a new cable can be ordered and installed. During the one
to two months before the new part can be installed, the county will review
the design of the cable and its maintenance and inspection procedures to
determine if any changes need to be made.
Motor vehicles, pedestrians and bicyclists will not be allowed on the bridge
during the repair. TriMet buses that normally use the Hawthorne Bridge will
be rerouted across the Morrison Bridge. Alternate river crossings for the
public include the Burnside, Morrison, Marquam and Ross Island bridges. The
bridge lift span will not be able to open for river traffic until it is
raised at about 10:00 am on Tuesday for the repair.
The Hawthorne Bridge, which opened in 1910, is the oldest working vertical
lift bridge in the country. Multnomah County maintains the Hawthorne Bridge
and more than 300 miles of roads and bridges.
# # #
Michael Pullen
Multnomah County
Public Affairs Office
W: 503-988-6804
C: 503-209-4111
mike.j.pullen@co.multnomah.or.us
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http://www.co.multnomah.or.us