Bullards Bridge

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Bullards Bridge
Bullards Bridge full side view from north river bank.jpg
Coordinates 43°08′50″N124°23′44″W / 43.1471°N 124.3955°W / 43.1471; -124.3955 Coordinates: 43°08′50″N124°23′44″W / 43.1471°N 124.3955°W / 43.1471; -124.3955
CarriesUS 101.svg US 101
Crosses Coquille River
Locale Bandon, Oregon, U.S.
Maintained by ODOT
Preceded by Ferry
Characteristics
Design Vertical-lift bridge with flanking camelback truss spans
Material Steel
Total length 702 ft (214 m) [1]
Width 26 ft (7.9 m) [1]
Clearance above Approx. 17 feet (5.2 m) (on the roadway deck)
Clearance below 81 feet (25 m) fully open;
31 feet (9.4 m) closed
History
Construction start 1952
Opened 1954 [2] [3]
Statistics
Daily traffic 8,282 (2007) [1]
View from the lift span, looking towards the northern truss span Driving across Bullards Bridge northbound - Bandon, Oregon 2.jpg
View from the lift span, looking towards the northern truss span

The Bullards Bridge (or simply Bullards Bridge) is a vertical-lift bridge that spans the Coquille River near where the river empties into the Pacific Ocean, just north of Bandon, Oregon, United States. One of only two vertical-lift bridges on the Oregon Coast Highway (U.S. Route 101), it was completed in 1954. [2] [3] The lift span is flanked by two camelback truss spans. [3] It is located immediately east of Bullards Beach State Park.

Vertical-lift bridge movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck

A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck.

Coquille River (Oregon) river in the United States of America

The Coquille River is a stream, about 36 miles (58 km) long, in southwestern Oregon in the United States. It drains a mountainous area of 1,059 square miles (2,740 km2) of the Southern Oregon Coast Range into the Pacific Ocean. Its watershed is between that of the Coos River to the north and the Rogue River to the south.

Bandon, Oregon City in Oregon, United States

Bandon is a city in Coos County, Oregon, United States, on the south side of the mouth of the Coquille River. It was named by George Bennet, an Irish peer, who settled nearby in 1873 and named the town after Bandon in Ireland, his hometown. The population was 3,066 at the 2010 census.

Contents

The bridge was built to replace Bullards Ferry, a ferry service whose slip was located about 80 feet (24 m) upstream from the bridge that replaced it. [4] The name originates with the Bullard family, who were among the early settlers in the area. [5] The Oregon Highway Commission awarded a contract for construction of the bridge and a 0.49-mile (0.79 km) new section of highway in October 1952. [6] The completed bridge was dedicated on September 20, 1954. [2]

Ferry type of ship

A ferry is a merchant vessel used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi.

Slipway ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water

A slipway, also known as boat ramp or launch or boat deployer, is a ramp on the shore by which ships or boats can be moved to and from the water. They are used for building and repairing ships and boats, and for launching and retrieving small boats on trailers towed by automobiles and flying boats on their undercarriage.

The overhead clearance for vehicles on the bridge deck originally was between 14 feet 10 inches (4.52 m) [3] and 15 feet 2 inches (4.62 m), [7] but after multiple instances of tall trucks striking the bridge, work was undertaken in 2006–07 to move certain cross pieces in order to increase the vertical clearance on the roadway by about 2 feet. [3]

Average daily traffic on the bridge was about 6,000 vehicles in 2004, [8] but had grown to about 8,300 by 2007. [1]

In late 2009, the Oregon Department of Transportation was planning a $3.4 million rehabilitation of the Bullards Bridge for 2010–11. [1] The bridge's draw span is very rarely opened now; as of 2009, it had not been raised for marine traffic in seven years, [1] being operated only for annual test openings for maintenance.

The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) is a department of the state government of the U.S. state of Oregon responsible for systems of transportation. It was first established in 1969. It had been preceded by the Oregon State Highway Department which, along with the Oregon State Highway Commission, was created by an act of the Oregon Legislative Assembly in 1913. It works closely with the five-member Oregon Transportation Commission in managing the state's transportation systems.

See also

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<i>Coquille</i> (steamboat)

Coquille was a steamboat built in 1908 for service on the Coquille River and its tributaries. Coquille served as a passenger vessel from 1908 to 1916, when the boat was transferred to the lower Columbia River. Coquille was reconstructed into a log boom towing boat, and served in this capacity from 1916 to 1935 or later.

<i>Liberty</i> (sternwheeler)

Liberty was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River and then on Coos Bay from 1903 to 1918. Liberty was notable for having its ownership entangled in various legal claims in the early 1910s, including some involving a colorful North Bend, Oregon business promoter Lorenzo Dow "Major" Kinney (1855-1920).

<i>Dispatch</i> (sternwheeler)

Dispatch was a sternwheel steamboat that was operated on the Coquille River on the southern Oregon coast from 1903 to 1920. The name of this vessel is sometimes seen spelled Despatch. This sternwheeler should not be confused with an earlier and somewhat smaller sternwheeler, also named Dispatch, that was built at Bandon, Oregon, in 1890, for which the 1903 Dispatch was a replacement.

<i>Wolverine</i> (motor vessel)

Wolverine was a launch powered by a gasoline engine that operated on the Coquille River on the southern coast of Oregon, United States, from 1908 to the 1920s. Later the boat operated on Coos Bay, and, in the mid-1930s, was transferred to Eureka, California. Wolverine is principally known for its early service as a high-speed passenger vessel.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 McCasland, Steve (October 17, 2009). "Bullards Bridge will get rehab work in 2010–11". The World . Coos Bay, Oregon. Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 "Coast Road Link Ready" (September 19, 1954). The Sunday Oregonian (Portland), p. 40.
  3. 1 2 3 4 5 "Millan, Felix (January 11, 2007). "Iron man" (about the foreman of a project to modify the Bullards Bridge). The World (Coos Bay, Oregon).
  4. "Road Commissioners Plan for Span" (December 8, 1950). The Oregonian (Portland), p. 17.
  5. "Park History: Bullards Beach State Park". Oregon Parks and Recreation Department . Retrieved June 7, 2013.
  6. "Bandon Job Goes To Portland Firm" (October 23, 1952). The Oregonian (Portland), p. 11.
  7. The World staff (March 23, 2004). "Span over Coquille River is damaged and traffic diverted ... again." The World (Coos Bay).
  8. McCasland, Steve (April 3, 2004). "Bridge repairs prolonged". The World (Coos Bay).

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