Technology Spans
A Sea-Sculpted Landscape
If this historic bridge and tunnel weren't here, what would it be like to cross Cape Creek?
Engineers building the Pacific Coast Highway in the early 1930s encountered an unusual challenge here at Cape Creek: a deep, offset gorge, carved over thousands of years by the power of sea and creek.
Famed bridge designer Conde B. McCullough, a State Bridge Engineer, used both old and new technology to meet the challenge. His Cape Creek Bridge design is similar to Roman aqueducts, with two lower viaduct sections supporting a taller, open-spandrel deck arch.
McCullough used a cutting-edge technology in this Roman-inspired design: steel-reinforced concrete.
"You can't help but wonder how in the dickens the great state of Oregon wants to make an expenditure like this to cross a little creek which isn't more than knee deep." -The Siuslaw Oar, November 7, 1931
Photo captions:
- Cape Creek Bridge and tunnel under construction.
- Early Cape Creek before bridge construction.
- A community was set up for the workers on the east side of the bridge. Living in the community was conveniently close to work, but also rustic.
- Cape Creek Bridge before the connecting sections of Highway 101 were passed.
- Heceta Head Lighthouse and keeper's house seen from under Cape Creek Bridge.
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