Reusable bridge beams live on in projects across Oregon

From ODOT-

In past blog posts, we’ve told you how the beams from the Willamette River Bridge detour structure were set aside for reuse. Although the detour bridge was designed as a temporary structure and permitted for only 10 years, the materials used to build it — particularly the steel and concrete beams — can be reused to safely serve motorists for decades to come. Here’s an update on where some of those beams have gone.



Four beams replaced the original truss bridge connecting Dearborn Island, just outside Eugene in the middle of the McKenzie River, to Oregon 126. For more than two years, no vehicles heavier than residents’ cars have been allowed to travel to and from the island. The new bridge to Dearborn Island is a single span, 115 feet long. In fact, the design team shortened the original 125-foot bridge design so that the 115-foot beams from the Willamette River Bridge’s temporary structure would fit perfectly.



Six of the temporary bridge’s steel beams will get a second life in an ODOT bridge near Silverton, Ore. The original Butte Creek Bridge, built in 1931, is being replaced because of load restrictions.



Willamette River Bridge crews will soon use fifty of the beams to build the new viaduct path on the south bank of the river.



Because we are reusing the majority of the beams from the Willamette River temporary bridge, tons of debris will be kept out of landfills and tons of raw materials are not being mined or forged to create new beams. Reusing the beams also saves the new projects thousands of dollars. New beams cost $14,500 more than a reused beam; the 224 beams being reused on other projects will save their owners a combined $3.25 million.



For more detail about how we saved money by reusing the beams, visit Karl Wieseke’s recent article at HubDot.com. You can also read more about it, and see some remarkable pictures of workers next to enormous beams, on The Register-Guard’s website.