Sellwood Bridge On Schedule For November Ribbon-Cutting, But Slightly Over Budget

By Kristian Foden-Vencil (OPB)
Portland, Oregon July 31, 2016 10 p.m.

The Sellwood Bridge is open again, after paving this weekend.

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The Sellwood Bridge should be finished on time around Thanksgiving, but about five percent over budget.

The Sellwood Bridge should be finished on time around Thanksgiving, but about five percent over budget.

Alex/Flickr

But commuters will have to wait until Thanksgiving before it’s completely finished.

The old green steel that used to be the Sellwood Bridge has been cut into a half dozen pieces. Most of it is now on barges waiting to be taken away.

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Work will soon start on an art project. Multnomah County spokesman Mike Pullen said it’ll be a series of 23 statues, each about 14 feet high.

“They’re designed as core samples coming up from the earth. With the colors of the region with the sky and the hillside," he said.

"So I think that’ll really be something that will create a gateway coming into the Sellwood neighborhood.”

He said within a few weeks motorists should be able to drive on the west side of the new bridge and turn south toward Lake Oswego, instead of having to drive in a loop north.

The bridge will be finished on time, but about five percent over budget.

The main reason: rock on the westside. Early drilling showed it was solid, but blasting proved it was deeply fractured.

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