The new structure is a 1,280-ft.-long by 47-ft.-wide, seven-span steel plate girder bridge with a cast-in-place deck.
(Photo courtesy of Oregon Department of Transportation.)
Officials from the Oregon Department of Transportation and Hamilton Construction recently celebrated the completion of the new Scottsburg Bridge on Oregon 38.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on Sept. 29 for the dedication of the final link in a lifeline route between Interstate 5 and the southern Oregon coast, a $43 million project endeavor.
The Springfield, Ore.-based contractor began work on the new bridge in January 2020. Traffic was shifted onto the new bridge this past May and the old bridge was removed in August.
Funded by House Bill 2017 (The Keep Oregon Moving Act), the new Scottsburg Bridge is wider and on a better alignment than the original 1929 bridge. It has been built to withstand earthquakes and stay open in times of natural disasters.
"This new bridge will be here a lot longer than us," ODOT Director Kris Strickler said. "It represents a seismic lifeline between the coast and Interstate 5. We don't know when an earthquake will happen, but it takes leadership and foresight to get these improvements funded and built."
Local officials unveiled a plaque at the ceremony that will be placed on the bridge, as well as having the original bill that started the program and the pen that Gov. Kate Brown used to sign the bill into law.
Structure work on the project included steel tube bridge railing with ornamental concrete pilasters and pylons at the ends of the bridge, two soldier pile retaining walls with tieback anchors and cast-in-place concrete facing, temporary shoring walls, and cast-in-place concrete headwalls and drainage facilities, according to Hamilton Construction.
Other construction elements included 8-ft.-diameter shafts; deep soil mixing under abutments; 6-ft.-square, decorative columns; curved and haunched steel girders at both ends; large plate girders spanning middle sections of the bridge; cast-in-place deck (10-in.-thick); and demolition of old bridge.
"This project replaced the 1929, 845-foot-long bridge on Highway 38," Hamilton Construction said in a statement. "The new structure is a 1,280-foot-long by 47-feet-wide, seven-span steel plate girder bridge with a cast-in-place deck. The bridge is supported by 96-inch-diameter drilled shafts at the piers and the abutments are founded on spread footings. Additional foundation work in the footprint of the abutments includes deep soil cement mixing to mitigate soil liquefaction in the event of seismic activity."
The new bridge structure is constructed downstream of the existing truss. Access for construction activities required one work bridge that spanned the full width of the river. A second full-length work bridge was required for the demolition and removal of the old structure. Staged construction on the project required three phases where traffic was temporarily placed in a one-way configuration guided by temporary signals and 24-hour flagging.
Replacement Necessary
Fully repairing the bridge would have involved repainting the green steel truss and repairing any bad steel sections, repairing and repaving the deck and replacing the deck joints, replacing the concrete railing, repairing the concrete pier caps and strengthening the bridge to better withstand earthquakes. However, according to ODOT, such repairs wouldn't address the more fundamental problems with the bridge — the narrow width, sharp approach curves and low overhead clearance.
Due to the need for so many repairs and improvements to the existing structure, ODOT concluded that the construction of a new bridge was a better long-term investment. A new bridge will better accommodate modern traffic and will be more likely to withstand a large earthquake or other natural disaster.
Although many other bridges along Oregon 38 have been replaced, the Scottsburg Bridge remained largely unchanged since it was built. It opened in 1929 during an era when most vehicles were small and speeds low; the bridge's narrow lanes and tight corners at both ends were not designed for modern traffic.
"We were only one truck or seismic event [away] and the connection would have been severed, said Julie Brown, ODOT Transportation Commission member. "And we all knew it and we worried."
Former Rep. Caddy McKeown, who helped guide passage of House Bill 2017 through the Oregon Legislature, shared credit with many others.
"It took everyone pulling on the same oar to make this project happen," McKeown said. "I want to thank to the citizens of Oregon who trusted their representatives to vote for this bill to get the Scottsburg Bridge built and to keep Oregon moving."
The old bridge had to be closed several times in the past to repair damage when trucks hit its steel truss. In April 2017, the bridge was closed for nearly five days due to a truck crash.
Other speakers at the event included Oregon Transportation Commissioner Julie Brown, former OTC member Martin Callery, Hamilton Construction President Con O'Connor, ODOT Interim Region Manager Darrin Neavoll and Southwest Area Manager Chris Hunter, and ODOT Historians Chris Bell and Larissa Rudnicki.
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