A Bridge for the New Millenium

Throughout the 20th century, traffic on US Highway 97 increased dramatically, from a few vehicles per day in the 1920's to over 8,000 by the 1990's. After 70 years, the Crooked River High Bridge, built in 1926, was still structurally sound but could no longer accommodate the needs of the new millennium. In the late 1990's, the Oregon Department of Transportation began planning a new crossing of the Crooked River Gorge that would complement the older bridges. Award-winning bridge engineer David Goodyear designed the new structure as a concrete deck arch bridge 535 feet long, almost 100 feet longer than its predecessors, 79 feet wide, and 295 feet high. The new Crooked River Bridge became the first major cast-in-place segmental concrete arch bridge in the United States. Construction began in November 1997, and the bridge opened to the public on September 16, 2000.

Oregon · United States