Ferry service between Astoria and the Washington side of the Columbia River began in 1926. The Oregon Department of Transportation purchased the ferry service in 1946. This ferry service did not operate during inclement weather and the half-hour travel time caused delays. In order to allow faster and more reliable crossings near the mouth of the river, a bridge was planned. The bridge was built jointly by the Oregon Department of Transportation and Washington State Department of Transportation. Construction on the structure began on November 5, 1962, and the concrete piers were cast at Tongue Point, upriver. The steel structure was built in segments at Vancouver, Washington, upriver, then barged downstream where hydraulic jacks lifted them into place. The bridge opened to traffic on July 29, 1966, marking the completion of U.S. Route 101 and becoming the seventh major bridge built by Oregon in the 1950s–60s; ferry service ended the night before. On August 27, 1966, Governors Mark Hatfield of Oregon and Dan Evans of Washington dedicated the bridge by cutting a ceremonial ribbon. The four-day ceremony was celebrated by 30,000 attendees who participated in parades, drives, and a marathon boat race from Portland to Astoria. The cost of the project was $24 million, equivalent to $ today, and was paid for by tolls that were removed on December 24, 1993, more than two years early.
Details
The bridge is in length and carries one lane of traffic in each direction. The cantilever-span section, which is closest to the Oregon side, is long, and its main span measures. It was built to withstand wind gusts and river water speeds of. As of 2004, an average of 7,100 vehicles per day use the Astoria–Megler Bridge. Designed by William Adair Bugge construction of the cantilever truss bridge was completed by the DeLong Corporation, the American Bridge Company, and Pomeroy Gerwick. The south end is located at beside what used to be the toll plaza, at the end of a inclined ramp which goes through a full 360° loop while gaining elevation over land to provide almost of clearance over the shipping channel. The north end is at and connects directly to SR 401. Since most of the northern portion of the bridge is over shallow, non-navigable water, it is low to the water. Repainting the bridge was planned for May 2009 through 2011 and budgeted at $20 million, to be shared by the states of Oregon and Washington. A four-year planned paint stripping and repainting project was planned for March 2012 through December 2016.
Pedestrians
Normally, only motor vehicles and bicycles are allowed on the bridge—not pedestrians. There is no sidewalk and the shoulders are too narrow for pedestrians adjacent to traffic. However, one day a year—usually in October—the bridge is host to the Great Columbia Crossing. The event uses the bridge to cross the river. and the entire route is. Participants are taken by shuttle to the Washington side, from where they run or walk to the Oregon side. Motor traffic is allowed to use only one lane and is advised to expect delays during the two-hour event. For the first time, during the 2018 event, the Oregon Department of Transportation announced that the bridge would be closed to motor traffic.
Popular culture
The bridge itself is featured prominently in the movies Short Circuit, Kindergarten Cop, Free Willy, , and The Goonies. It stands in for the doomed fictional Madison Bridge in Irwin Allen's 1979 made-for-TV disaster movieThe Night the Bridge Fell Down. Songwriter Sufjan Stevens most likely references the bridge in his song "Should Have Known Better" off his album Carrie & Lowell as a metaphor for dealing with his grief from the death of his mother.
