Cape Creek Bridge

Facts 

Overview

Concrete arch bridge over Cape Creek on US 101

Location

Lane County, Oregon

Status

Open to traffic

History

Built 1931. It was designed by Conde McCullough and opened in 1932.

Builders

- Clackamas Construction Co.
- Conde B. McCullough
- John K. Holt

Design

The Cape Creek Bridge is an example of an ancient bridge design combined with early twentieth-century use of reinforced concrete construction techniques. While reminiscent of Roman stone aqueducts because of its two tiers of numerous arches and columns, the 619-foot bridge incorporates in its design a 220-foot open-spandrel rib-type reinforced-concrete deck arch. At the time of the bridge's construction, the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads was completing a 700-foot tunnel through nearby Heceta Head, at the south approach to Cape Creek Bridge. Both undertakings were part of long-range plans to complete a highway along the length of the Pacific Coast. This section of highway presented engineers with major construction problems. It became known to many as the "million-dollar mile" because of its high cost.
Historic American Engineering Record, HAER ORE,20-FLO,1

Dimensions

Length of largest span: 220.0 ft.
Total length: 619.1 ft.
Deck width: 27.0 ft.

Inventory number

BH 30017 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Inspection (as of 07/2007)

Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 46.2 (out of 100)

Average daily traffic (as of 2006)

2,600

Categories 

Update Log 

• October 7, 2008: Updated by Michael Goff: Added Builders
• June 29, 2008: New photos from Larry Matthews

Sources 

• Larry Matthews - ffhiker [at] yahoo [dot] com
• Cape Creek Bridge HAER Webpage
• Michael Goff - michael [dot] goff [at] odot [dot] state [dot] or [dot] us

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