Multnomah County Commissioners Approve 'Inverted Y' Design for Burnside Bridge Development

Multnomah County commissioners unanimously approved the new earthquake-resistant Burnside Bridge design Thursday.

The committee chose an inverted Y-shaped design, including a cable tower extending to a single column on the east side of the bridge.

Earlier this summer, the county conducted a survey to gauge public opinion on the new bridge. The county received more than 19,000 responses, with the majority choosing the tied arch design.

The “inverted Y” cable-stay design was also popular based on survey responses, but commissioners also relied on other factors, including recommendations from county staff and an advisory group. Ultimately, the board accepted a community design advisory group’s recommendation to go with the “inverted Y” cable-stay design.

A schematic of the cable-stayed design chosen by the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners as the preferred structure for the new Burnside Bridge. It is part of an $895 million replacement project to protect a vital corridor connecting Portland's east and west sides from earthquakes.

Courtesy of Multnomah County

Freelance architecture and design journalist Brian Libby says he has mixed feelings about the design.

“I think the inverted Y is the most unique option,” Libby said. “It would also be the most compatible with some of the nearby high-rises.”

Libby says that while this design is the best of the options presented, he sees its asymmetrical design as a major drawback.

This comes after years of planning to upgrade the nearly 100-year-old bridge to resist earthquakes. According to the county's website, studies show that many of Portland's older bridges are unlikely to withstand a major earthquake.

The Burnside Bridge, like many others in the area, would be unusable if a magnitude 8 earthquake struck the area. Officials say it could be weeks before any downtown bridge is usable after a major quake.

John Henriksen, Multnomah County's transportation department director and engineer, said the project began with about 120 different options to bring the bridge up to current seismic standards.

He says it is difficult to feel all the emotions involved in this stage of the project, which took eight years to prepare.

“There’s not a lot of time to catch your breath and get excited at this point,” Henriksen said. “It’s a huge accomplishment for the project to finally get to know all the components we’re going to build.”

The county oversees six bridges within the city limits, most of which cross the Willamette River and serve as gateways to downtown Portland, Henriksen said.

Like the Burnside Bridge, the Hawthorne, Morrison, and Broadway Bridges were originally built without earthquake-resistant provisions.

Although the costs are too high to upgrade all of the county's bridges, officials have described the Burnside Bridge as a “lifeline” because it would help transport first responders in the event of a major disaster.

In 2022, the county estimated the total cost of upgrading the Burnside Bridge at about $895 million. Henriksen said he did not have an updated estimate but said the county was working to release that information next spring.

Meanwhile, he said the ministry will continue to develop costs at different stages of the design project. He said the first phase will come in October when the design is set to be 30 percent complete.

“Schedule is everything on this project,” Henriksen said. “To keep costs down, we need to make sure we stick to a schedule that allows us to finish the project as quickly as possible.”

Construction is expected to begin in 2027 and take approximately five years. The county has not yet secured all the necessary funding.

Several federal grants and aid, as well as funding from county vehicle registration fees, have helped support the project so far. Henriksen said they plan to seek additional funding in the upcoming legislative session.

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