Funding worth $1.9 billion is being requested to allow work on the long-awaited Interstate bridge replacement project connecting Oregon State to Washington State. Carrying I-5, the existing bridge spans the Columbia River but is no longer able to cope with traffic demands and it is also reaching the end of its functional life.
Washington State Department of Transportation and Oregon Department of Transportation are requesting the funding so that work can commence for the project. Construction of the bridge could take from $5 billion to $7.5 billion according to 2023 estimates, will involve 24 separate building contracts and is likely to take up to 15 years to complete. The environmental review process is underway at present, while full approval for the new bridge project is due in 2026.
Both Washington State Department of Transportation and Oregon Department of Transportation will contribute to the bridge replacement, along with the US Department of Transportation. The bridge will be tolled.
The bridge connects Portland in Oregon with Vancouver in Washington State, with three lanes of traffic for I-5 in either direction. The twin steel truss bridges measure 1.08km in length, feature a 53.6m long lifting section with 21.9m of clearance that allows vessels to pass underneath and carry around 130,000 vehicles/day. Construction of the first bridge, now used for northbound traffic, was completed in 1917 while the second parallel bridge, now handling southbound traffic, opened in 1958.
