Photo: Ford, Brad
Frequent, long openings of the Hawthorne Bridge drawbridge will be needed between 9 am and as late as 3:30 pm Monday to Friday, July 26-30 as crews fine-tune steel cables that raise and lower the drawbridge. Maintenance teams will need to raise the drawbridge for 10-15 minutes at a time to grease the cables and adjust their length.
The work will also require up to one traffic lane to be closed in each direction at times. Bridge users can avoid delays by using an alternate river crossing such as the Morrison Bridge. Flashing lights at the intersections at each end of the Hawthorne Bridge warn bridge users when a drawbridge opening is in progress.
Multnomah County maintains the 110-year-old Hawthorne Bridge, which is the oldest operating vertical lift bridge in the nation.