Lift Span in Columbia River Bridge at Celilo, Oregon - Vertical Lift Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Columbia River Bridge at Celilo was built to connect the Oregon Trunk Railroad with the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway. Construction on the bridge began in July 1910 and the first train crossed it on January 4, 1912. The 4,197-foot steel bridge at Celilo Falls rests on 29 piers and three abutments. From south to north the bridge consisted of four deck girder spans 75 feet long, one deck girder span 76 feet long, one swing span 250 feet long over the Celilo Government Canal, one 320 foot through-truss span, 6 through-truss spans each 230 feet long, and 16 deck girder spans 102 feet long, which form the wye at the north end.
Due to the construction of The Dalles Dam (completed in 1957) the entire bridge had to be raised several feet. In addition the Celilo Government Canal was covered by rising waters so the swing span was closed and permanently attached. In place of the swing span the 320 foot through-truss span was converted to a vertical lift span to accommotate river traffic.
Coordinates are along the gorge rim south of bridge and can be reached by a good gravel road which begins at the mouth of the Deschutes River. There are also some good views of the bridge from I-84, but there is no place to stop.

Visit Instructions:
1) After you've found a vertical lift bridge, go visit it, get the coordinates, a picture or two of it, and if it is in use or not still as a lift bridge.
Then log it and post your pictures! At least one of the photos must be of you and your GPS there with the bridge in the background. (No old vacation shots or photos off the internet!)
2) Include the coordinates, city/county/state/country and the name of the bridge (if it has one).
3) Include any interesting information about the structure

Recent Visits/Logs:

Date Logged Log   06/20/2021 2 Sonians visited it 05/19/2019 grandmabetsy visited it 07/01/2010 3rd times the charm visited it 07/12/2009 dingo262 visited it 01/27/2009 Volcanoguy visited it

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