Jeweled Clasps in a Wonderful String of Pearls

Driving north over the Yaquina Bay Bridge (all photos by me unless otherwise noted)

My wife Lynne and I traveled to the Oregon coast last weekend to escape the sinus-swelling and eye-itching allergy hell that is the Willamette Valley during late spring. We headed directly west from Eugene to Florence, where our first order of business was lunch at Mo’s Seafood and Chowder. From Florence, we followed U.S. Highway 101 northward through Yachats, Waldport, and Seal Rock on our way to Newport, before arcing inland for our return leg to Eugene. The weather was picture-perfect, with breathtaking vistas to match. 

We’re fortunate to have the Oregon coast so close by to enjoy, and yet it feels so much like a world away. The motoring along this stretch of Highway 101 is easy and relaxed, perfect for taking in the scenery. The route is punctuated by charming coastal communities and—in sometimes spectacular fashion—by a series of historic bridges, the majority of which we can credit to the brilliance of one man, Conde B. McCullough. 

Conde McCullough (1887-1946) arrived in Oregon in 1916 to teach engineering at Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University). He was among a new breed of college-educated engineers and a pioneer of the movement to create a well-planned American highway system. He would go on to serve as State Bridge Engineer for the Oregon State Highway Department. In this capacity, McCullough and his staff designed hundreds of bridges throughout the state, but perhaps none more famous than a series of Highway 101 spans constructed during the years of the Great Depression by the Oregon Coast Highway Commission and the federal Public Works Administration. 

In 1932, Highway 101 had yet to be entirely connected. Five channels in the southern half of the state—Coos Bay, the Umpqua River, the Siuslaw River, Alsea Bay, and Yaquina Bay—could only be crossed using ferry services. By 1936, new bridges crossed all five waterways, and it was finally possible to drive the entire 360+ miles of the Oregon coast, from border to border. The five multi-span bridges range in length from 1,643 to 5,339 feet. Each utilizes arch forms of reinforced concrete or combinations of steel and concrete, demonstrating engineering principles drawn by McCullough from European precedents that he pioneered in America. In recognition of their historical significance, the National Park Service added the four surviving bridges to the National Register of Historic Places on August 5, 2005 (the Oregon Department of Transportation replaced the Alsea Bay Bridge in 1991). 

The building of the Oregon Coast bridges in the 1930s did more than open the door to modern transportation. The program left a unique artistic legacy on the Oregon coast. McCullough was as much an architect as he was an engineer. Given the times, he favored the then-popular streamlined Art Deco style, but his designs also bore traces of Gothic, Egyptian, and Tudor motifs. The sometimes-hybridized aesthetic is nonetheless always cohesive, but also varied in response to the unique engineering and functional demands of each crossing. 

McCullough’s bridges complement their estuarine landscapes. It’s apt to describe them as graceful, flowing structures that heighten our appreciation of their settings. His genius was the ability to successfully combine function, form, and grace in the art of bridge design. Their characteristic arches would become a McCullough signature. Today, they’re so central to the identities of the towns with which they’re most closely associated that they often serve as community avatars. Considered together, the bridges are a set piece, closely related by commonalities of location, provenance, vintage, and style; McCullough himself described them as “jeweled clasps in a wonderful string of pearls.” 

During the course of our Highway 101 sojourn, Lynne and I visited McCullough’s Siuslaw River Bridge and the Yaquina Bay Bridge, and also the current Alsea Bay Bridge, which replaced a McCullough original. 

Siuslaw River Bridge

Siuslaw River Bridge 

Because our initial stop was Florence, we first encountered the Siuslaw River Bridge. If not the most imposing, it may be the most interesting of McCullough’s coastal bridges. Its center span is a 140-foot wide double-leaf bascule (drawbridge) providing 110 feet of horizontal clearance for boat traffic. Two 154-foot reinforced concrete arches flank the bascule section, and four Art Deco-style obelisks house mechanical equipment and the living quarters for the bridge operator. The bridge’s total length is 1,643 feet. Its cost upon completion in 1936 was $532,000, equivalent to $10 million in today’s dollars. 

ODOT recently completed a 3½ year project to refurbish the Siuslaw River Bridge. The work included cathodic protection of the bridge’s steel components, replacement of the replacement of the guardrails, and the addition of seismic restraints to improve its resilience. 

Model of the original Alsea Bay Bridge designed by Conde B. McCullough. A piece of the original concrete guardrail is behind the model.

Alsea Bay Bridge

The next bridge on our trip was the Alsea Bay Bridge in Waldport, but as mentioned above the current structure is a replacement for Conde McCullough’s original 1936 design. The original bridge was 3,011 long and featured a central trio of tied-arch concrete spans flanked by series of below-deck thrust arches. Presumably because of its particularly hostile environment, McCullough’s Alsea Bay Bridge suffered greater corrosion to its concrete-reinforcing steel than his other coastal bridges. ODOT decided in the mid-eighties to replace it with a new span comprised of a latex concrete deck considerably thicker than normal to thwart corrosion. The new bridge features bold Y-shaped piers and a towering steel center arch, preserving the memory of the multiple arches of McCullough’s design. 

Historic Alsea Bay Bridge Interpretive Center

As part of the new bridge project, ODOT constructed an interpretive center, located at its south end. Lynne and I enjoyed the center’s informative exhibits, which vividly preserve the history of the original bridge by Conde McCullough. 

Yaquina Bay Bridge

Yaquina Bay Bridge 

The Yaquina Bay Bridge spans Yaquina Bay south of Newport. It superseded the last of the ferry crossings along Highway 101. The bridge’s total length is 3,223 feet. The center through-arch is the longest-spanning component at 600 feet in length; it rises to an impressive 246 feet above sea level at its crown and is marked by tall, obelisk-like concrete finials. McCullough utilized steel for the main arch and the flanking 350-foot deck arches; the remainder of the bridge involves concrete deck arches or deck-girders. According to Wikipedia, timber pilings driven to a depth of 70 feet support the bridge’s piers. 

Apparently, McCullough intended pedestals to accommodate sculptures of seals, but these were never executed. Pedestrian plazas affording views of the bridge were incorporated; I took the photo above from one of the terraced plazas at the north end. 

The cost to construct the Yaquina Bay Bridge was $1,301,106; in today’s dollars that sum would be $24 million (which sounds like an incredible bargain to me; understandably, labor costs were low during the Great Depression). 

As with the Siuslaw River Bridge and the original Alsea Bay Bridge, McCullough applied an Art Deco theme to the Yaquina Bay Bridge. Regardless, each of these (and also the Umpqua River Bridge in Reedsport and the Conde B. McCullough Memorial Bridge in North Bend, both of which I’ve driven across numerous other times) are distinctive in their own right. Inarguably, McCullough demonstrated a mastery of the Art Deco style, infusing each of his bridges with an abundance of character in the service of engineering. 

Conde B. McCullough (photo credit: Oregon Department of Transportation [CC BY 2.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)]) 

I’m not certain, but I sense Oregon may be uniquely privileged to enjoy such a concentration of remarkable bridges, all dating to a specific period. That they were the products of an ambitious public works initiative to put thousands to work when they needed it most is certainly noteworthy. Their unmistakable artistry—so characteristic of that time in history—is a tribute to Conde McCullough’s vision and talent. Go see these amazing structures on Oregon's coast if you haven’t already done so. They stand as a testament to when major public works projects strove to be more than merely functional. We owe a debt of gratitude to Conde McCullough—an engineer with the heart of an artist—for the considerable legacy he bequeathed to everyone who has ever visited or will visit the amazing Oregon Coast.