Hawthorne Bridge — Attraction in Portland

There are ratings for bridges? Well I give it 5 stars. A few gave it 1 or 2 because of traffic, poor design, and even no wifi. Really? The bridge was built in 1910 for cars and horses that weigh less than the vehicles today. Plus Portland's population has grown considerably since 1910 so what do you expect from a bridge that's over 100 years old? Yes the bridge vibrates, but from an engineering standpoint you want a structure to flex especially when you build in an earth quake prone area. Ounce a year when they close the top deck of the Fremont for the bridge pedal they still keep the bottom deck open. when you stand still you really feel that bridge shake. The fact that the Hawthorne is still standing today and doing its job well makes it a great bridge in my view. Plus I like a bridge with character unlike it's ugly neighbor the...

The Hawthorne Bridge is a truss bridge with a vertical lift that spans the Willamette River in Portland, Oregon, joining Hawthorne Boulevard and Madison Street. It is the oldest vertical-lift bridge in operation in the United States and the oldest highway bridge in Portland.

The current bridge was built to replace the second Madison Street Bridge, a wooden bridge built in 1900. It cost $511,000 to build[7] and was opened on December 19, 1910.[1] Hawthorne Boulevard (and thus the bridge) was named after Dr. J.C. Hawthorne, the co-founder of Oregon's first mental hospital and early proponent for the first Morrison Bridge.

It is a great bridge and can get you down town quickly unless their are Protesters are...

My favorite bridge in Portland. She's a beaut. And the best of the commuter crossings. I've been riding my bike across this span for more than 20 years, and it has never let me down (but has surprised me up, once or twice). Approaches are OK and have been improved a bit on the Downtown (West) side, but I still tend to use the ramp on the Westbound side and ride down to the new and improved Naito Pkwy with it's protected...