Portland commuters will have to deal with the closure of two of the five lanes crossing Burnside Bridge starting Friday.
Cracked concrete on the Burside Bridge is problem for people walking underneath.
Multnomah County
Multnomah County will close the Burnside Bridge after 11 p.m. for the weekend, then open it again at 5 a.m. Monday morning with three lanes open — rather than five.
County spokesman Mike Pullen said maintenance workers need to get underneath the bridge.
“It’s basically addressing small problems in this 90-year-old bridge such as crumbling concrete, cracked concrete, corroded steel that needs to be removed and repainted,” Pullen said.
The work — which is not considered a major overhaul — will continue for two years, and after the project's completion, the bridge still wouldn’t survive a large earthquake. Rather, the aim is to squeeze another 15 to 20 years out of the bridge.
The $19 million, two year project starts by closing the westbound lanes. After a year, the eastbound lanes will close, leaving the westbound lanes open.
Multnomah County
But a planning project is underway to make sure the Burnside Bridge would survive an earthquake. That may involve a big retrofit, or a complete tear down.
The closure comes after lanes on the Morrison Bridge recently reopened. They were closed for much of 2017.