Crossing the east fork of the Lewis River, the Heisson Bridge was built in 1925. It is a narrow, structurally deficient and functionally obsolete structure and can no longer serve the demands placed on it. The center of the bridge was also damaged several times when it was hit by river debris during floods.According to the third and the fourth generation of the Pomeroy family who live on the nearby Pomeroy Living History Farm (geocache), the very first bridge was a covered bridge with a Ryan and Allen log flume running alongside.
The concrete Heisson bridge (now abandoned) was originally supposed to be narrower. If the local community had not petitioned for it to be widened by eight feet, it would have been only a ten foot one-way span! It was built in 1925 with two-way, small car traffic in mind and was one of the first concrete bridges in Clark County.
The new bridge is a curved, concrete arch structure that the surrounding communities and those who accessed the bridge wanted. Kramer Gehlen was prime consultant. The Washington Department of Transportation was pleased with the final design and awarded this project the Best County Project for the year 2000.
Clark County plans to preserve the old Heisson Bridge which still stands upstream and is used for pedestrians and bicyclists. I took the photograph on a dark and stormy day.