Fremont Bridge construction slides
Scope and Contents
The collection consists of fifty-six 35 mm color slides taken during construction of the Fremont Bridge in March 1973. The slides depict the bridge's main span being transported down the Willamette River by barge and lifted into place. The slides were taken for the Oregon Department of Transportation by an unidentified photographer. The collection also includes typescript descriptions of each slide. Researchers should note that the descriptions include incorrect dates for some images. Though the descriptions give a date of March 21, 1973, for slides showing the bridge span before it was lifted into place, the lift actually occurred several days earlier, on March 15-16.
Dates
- Creation: 1973 March
Creator
- Oregon. Department of Transportation (Organization)
Conditions Governing Access
Collection is open for research.
Conditions Governing Use
The Oregon Historical Society owns the materials in the Research Library and makes available reproductions for research, publication, and other uses. The Society does not necessarily hold copyright to all materials in the collections. In some cases, permission for use may require seeking additional authorization from copyright owners.
Historical Note
The Fremont Bridge in Portland, Oregon, which carries Interstate 405 and U.S. 30 traffic over the Willamette River, opened on November 15, 1973. With a main span length of 1,255 feet, it was the longest tied-arch bridge in the world until 2004. At the time, the March 1973 hoisting of the 900-foot, 6,000-ton center span, which was floated 1.7 miles up the Willamette on two barges from its assembly site at Swan Island, was the heaviest bridge lift ever completed. During the 50-hour lift, the span was raised 175 feet using 32 hydraulic jacks.
Source: "The Portland Bridge Book," 3rd edition, by Sharon Wood Wortman with Ed Wortman (Portland: Urban Adventure Press, 2006)
Extent
0.1 Cubic Feet (1 folder in shared document case)
Language of Materials
English
Abstract
Small collection of slides taken for the Oregon Department of Transportation, depicting the center-arch span of the Fremont Bridge in Portland, Oregon, being hoisted into place in March 1973. The images show the 6,000-ton steel span being floated by barge down the Willamette River and lifted 175 feet, which, at that time, was the heaviest bridge lift ever completed.
Immediate Source of Acquisition
Gift of Faith Stefens/Oregon Department of Transportation, January 1981 (Lib. Acc. 15381; Photo Acc. 981D014).
Separated Materials
Film footage of the Fremont Bridge construction that was received with the slides was separated to the moving image collections at the Oregon Historical Society Research Library.
- Title
- Guide to the Fremont Bridge construction slides
- Status
- Under Review
- Author
- Jane Monson
- Date
- 2025
- Description rules
- Describing Archives: A Content Standard
- Language of description
- English
- Script of description
- Latin
- Language of description note
- Finding aid is written in English.
Repository Details
Part of the Oregon Historical Society Research Library Repository
1200 SW Park Ave.
Portland OR 97205 United States
5033065204
5033065240
libreference@ohs.org