Bridge Model at City Hall


via the “Portland Spaces” magazine e-mail list:

The Proposed Willamette River Crossing on View at City Hall

The Architecture Foundation of Oregon, the Portland chapter of the American Institute of Architects, and Portland Spaces magazine invite the public to view a model of the first new Portland bridge over the Willamette River in over 35 years and the first pedestrian/bike/transit-only bridge in the United States–the proposed Willamette River Crossing of the Portland-to-Milwaukie MAX light-rail line. Public comments will be solicited, and an e-mail data bank will be created to keep the wider public informed of the progress of the design as the bridge proceeds.

The beautifully crafted scale model will be on view at Portland City Hall beginning Tuesday, April 7, from 6 to 9 p.m., with a reception and 7 p.m. lecture by the bridge’s designer, Miguel Rosales. It will be on display at City Hall throughout the month of April and then will be moved to other sites (to be determined over the coming months).

After a lengthy study of more than 10 possible bridge types by the Willamette Bridge Advisory Group (appointed by TriMet and led by former Mayor Vera Katz), this bridge was selected as the preferred alternative. The Portland Design Commission unanimously supported the decision. The bridge, a joint venture of Rosales + Partners and Schlaich Bergermann and Partner LP which Rosales calls the “hybrid,” will be an unprecedented combination of the cable-stay and suspension designs. TriMet is now further studying the proposed bridge’s design and cost before proceeding with preliminary engineering.

Miguel Rosales is president and principal designer of Rosales + Partners, a transportation architecture firm based in Boston, Massachusetts. He was the lead architect and urban designer for Boston’s Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge over the Charles River and for the Liberty Bridge in Greenville, South Carolina. His current major US bridge projects include the East End Bridge over the Ohio River in Louisville, Kentucky; a new pedestrian bridge over the Trinity River in Fort Worth, Texas; and four pedestrian bridges across the Belt Shore Parkway in New York City. He has received grants from the National Endowment for the Arts, the American Institute of Architects/American Architectural Foundation, and MIT to research bridge and infrastructure design, and he is the recipient of several awards, including a 1993 Young Architects Design Award from Progressive Architecture magazine.


3 responses to “Bridge Model at City Hall”

  1. I believe the “Wave” design was better also. My criteria in urban asthetics is ‘context’. The cable-stayed design is out of context with the Marquam and Ross Island Bridges, and the “Wave” design more in context.

    I call the US Bank building “the sore thumb on Burnside” because it sticks out like one. It’s way out of the context of surrounding architecture.

    Funny thing: I believe the cable-stayed option for a pedestrian bridge over I-5 between Corbett and OHSU (beneath the gondola) was appropriate there because its cables are in context with the cable of the gondola. The funny thing is, the ‘asthetics police’ chose a non-cable-stayed pedestrian bridge. Go figure.

  2. I like it. Its toned down from the original versions and has good sight lines for bicyclists and pedestrians.
    Now, we need to get its twin built across the Columbia with, OK, two lanes for local motor vehicle traffic AND get the Marquam Bridge removed…then the new bridge will really shine.

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