Willamette River MAX bridge is halfway done

Published 12:00 am Wednesday, August 1, 2012

TriMet’s Portland-Milwaukie Light Rail Bridge is the first new bridge in decades to span the Willamette River in a spot where there was no previous bridge. The new span is the way in which light rail service will be coming to Inner Southeast Portland, and it is advancing well.

That’s according to project Resident Engineer Dave Tertavian, in charge of building the new transit bridge. “We are right on our budget target; and right on schedule also.”

As he and TriMet spokesperson Mary Fetsch took THE BEE on a tour of the eastside construction site on July 2, she said, “We’re about 41% completed with construction.”

Those who have been following the project, Fetsch added, will see the work move from a “marine operation” to land-based construction. “They’re currently doing bridge tower foundation work for the east side of the bridge tower.”

Expected to open in 2015, the transit bridge will carry pedestrian, bicycle, and bus traffic — in addition to the MAX light rail train, from the South Waterfront, landing just south of OMSI and the Portland Opera building. It will also carry the Eastside Trolley, which will operate on S.E. MLK Boulevard and Grand Avenue between OMSI and the Broadway Bridge before returning downtown.