As new bridge opens, OTIA III winds down

With great

community fanfare, the Whilamut Passage Bridge opened to traffic this month With a total contract value of $204
million, it is the largest in the $1.3 billion Oregon Transportation Investment
Act III State Bridge Delivery Program, which is beginning to wind down after
repairing and replacing hundreds of Oregon bridges and making significant
contributions to the state’s economy.

Ten years
after the passage of OTIA III by the Oregon Legislature, the bridge program has
completed construction on 264 bridges; only seven bridges remain under
construction, including this I-5 Willamette River Bridge project, where crews continue
to work on the path viaduct and construction wrap-up tasks.

The bridge
program was a proactive initiative to update crucial links in the
transportation infrastructure to keep Oregon’s economy competitive and create
thousands of private-sector jobs. Many of the state’s highway bridges had been
built in the 1950s and ’60s as part of the national interstate system. Rather
than repairing each bridge as it exceeded its projected lifespan of 50 to 75
years, sought a long-term, more cost-effective solution.

The enormous scope and compressed timetable
of the bridge program required the participants to work cooperatively and think
creatively. Such conditions spurred numerous innovations in construction
techniques, environmental stewardship and community engagement.

Ultimately, the OTIA III bridge program has
been a jobs program, whether in maximizing the participation of homegrown
businesses and workers or optimizing the system on which commerce depends. In
the case of the I-5 Willamette River Bridge project, business representatives have
told us they appreciate the project’s role in creating local jobs, bringing
extra money spent by the crew members into the community, and improving the
region’s infrastructure for the long term.

New bridge is open to traffic

Traffic is now flowing on both spans of the Whilamut Passage Bridge. Below is a photo of the new bridge, looking down Interstate 5 toward the south.

We are also happy to report that the northbound Franklin Boulevard off-ramp (exit 192) is open once again, after a closure of nearly two years.

A variety of tasks still to complete

Although both spans of the Whilamut Passage Bridge are now
open to traffic, work continues on the site, particularly under the bridge and
alongside the freeway. Here’s a glimpse of just some of the work still
underway.

Above, workers
are paving the slope of the south bank of the Canoe Canal. On the right side,
you can see one of the places where they will eventually place diamond-shaped
panels depicting blue camas.  

Here, crews are pouring the base of a camas basket design
enhancement. The shape of the base resembles a soda can sitting on a large
round coffee-can lid. The lid acts as a stabilizing surface against the earth. The
enhancement will be completed this fall.

Up by the “River”

Biggest draw at the opening event last week was the rare chance to explore the

deck of the northbound bridge before it opened to traffic. Hundreds of people patiently
waited in line and carefully climbed six flights of stairs to enjoy big-sky
views and admire the recently installed “River” sculpture by artist Lillian
Pitt.

River is a
42-foot-long stainless steel depiction of a river and canoe flanked by camas
flowers and cattails that runs between the north- and southbound bridges. Etched
into the concrete pedestal below are the names of the nine tribes that make up
the Kalapuya tribe, which today is a member of the Confederated Tribes of the
Grand Ronde. Lillian Pitt herself is a descendent of Wasco, Yakama and Warm
Springs people, the only Native American among the three sculptors chosen to
create the above-deck design enhancements.

Many
configurations of friends and family members posed for photos with the
sculpture as backdrop on the historic occasion, and Pitt, sitting nearby to
answer questions about her work, happily joined them whenever asked.

As the summer
advances, look for two unique versions of camas baskets, also sculpted from
steel and each more than 20 feet high, to join River at the approach to each
span.

Opening event attendees read about design enhancements and admire the views atop the new bridge.

The young and young at heart take over the bridge with bikes

Before hundreds

of people walked across the new Whilamut Passage Bridge at our opening
celebration, about 60 kids and family members got to ride their bicycles across
it.

The ride was
made possible thanks to Kidical Mass Eugene, an organization whose purpose is
to teach kids, parents and caregivers safety skills and provide a ride in which
to practice them. 

The
family-friendly ride began in Fairmount Park, after which the kids and their
friends and family members headed over the bridge. They took in the
breathtaking views of the river. They also posed in front of Lillian Pitt’s “River”
design enhancement and talked to the artist herself.

A few of the riders enjoying the view.

Saturday in the park

villa lucked

out with the location of the Whilamut Passage Bridge — throughout the four
years of construction, we’ve enjoyed the beauty of the Willamette River and
surrounding Alton Baker Park and the enthusiastic, dedicated participation of
citizen volunteers from Eugene and Springfield.

Last
Saturday, the “Field of Dreams” promise “If you build it, they will come”
certainly proved true for ODOT as hundreds of community members joined us to
celebrate the nearly complete bridge. (We could guesstimate the head-count
because the bike valets alone checked approximately 350 bikes in and out of
their corral!)

standing-room-only crowd listened to speeches by state officials and project
volunteers. Kevin Simmons of the Confederated Tribes of the Grand Ronde kicked
off the event with a prayer. The audience clapped in appreciation of Eugene
Mayor Kitty Piercy’s statement that the new bridge is a “connection to our past
and a passage to our future” and Community Advisory Group member Scott Wylie’s
reminder that the Willamette River was “the original superhighway.”

Kalapuya
Elder Esther Stutzman and her family closed the ceremony by drumming and
singing that was so popular they graciously performed an encore.

Even as we
were enjoying our local celebration, Federal Highway Administrator Victor
Mendez gave the new bridge national exposure in his July 29 post for Fast Lane, the official blog of the U.S. villa.

Below are
some images of the ceremony. Stay tuned for more posts of this momentous day.

A beautiful day for the Whilamut Passage Bridge

Friday was a

special day for villa and our communities of Eugene and Springfield. After 10
years of hard work from our all-star contractors and consultants, we were
pleased to celebrate a job well done on the Whilamut Passage Bridge. In a few
weeks, this landmark project will open to traffic. But last week, honored
dignitaries from around the state and nation gathered with us to speak to all
the hard work that went into making this project a success.

Kalapuya Elder Esther Stutzman (fifth from left) was joined by her family and members of The Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde in a ceremonial song.