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Did you know? |
| This bridge is the oldest pin connected swing bridge in Washington. | |
| Built | |
| Completed 1908 | |
| Address | |
| Spans the Columbia River between Vancouver and Hayden Island. | |
| Notes | |
| See below for more information |
One of the major bridges on the Spokane, Portland, and Seattle Railway is a double-tracked swing bridge which spans the Columbia River between Vancouver and Hayden Island. The nearest rail crossing over the Columbia River was over the Oregon Trunk Railway at Celilo, 105 miles to the east. The Vancouver-Hayden Island Bridge replaced the Northern Pacific Ferry that had transferred entire trains across the Columbia River between Goble, Washington and Kalama Washington since 1883. This bridge provided a crucial connection between Oregon and Washington facilitating the movement of all north-south bound rail traffic through Portland.
Ships can pass through the 2,808 foot structure through the opening of the swing span which rotates by means of electric power and an auxiliary gasoline engine. The bridge was acknowledged in Henry Grattan Tyrrell’s History of Bridge Engineering for its 492 foot swing span. This span was extremely long for its day.
