North Lombard Street – North Marine Drive re-opens after bridge construction

 

(Portland, Ore.) – The Portland Bureau of Transportation advises the traveling public that the bridge which carries traffic on North Lombard Street over the Columbia Slough near Kelley Point Park has re-opened after an extended closure since mid-April for bridge deck replacement. The Columbia Slough Bridge is now open all hours, all days to all traffic.

 

The majority of the work to replace the deck, install the curb and upgrade the guardrails is complete. However, single lane closures will be necessary during daytime hours through the end of the year for structural steel sidewalk installation to connect pedestrian and bicycle traffic to existing trails on each side of the bridge.

The public is advised that Kelley Point Park will remain open with no restrictions for access due to the project.

The Columbia Slough Bridge deck was deteriorated and needed to be replaced. Signs of distress due to heavy freight traffic were evident in structural cracks that were visible in the old concrete deck and approach slabs. Failure to replace the deck would have resulted in weight restriction of the bridge, which would have limited traffic movement at the crossing.

The project included replacing the bridge deck to carry increasingly heavy freight loads and upgrading bridge rails to meet current safety standards. Additionally, the new cantilevered sidewalk for bicycle and pedestrian use will connect approximately nine miles of previously isolated off-street trails and increase pedestrian and bicycle safety and mobility in the area.