The Stark Street Bridge is expected to remain closed for months while repairs are made to a support wall.
On Tuesday, Sept. 17, the Stark Street Bridge in the Columbia River Gorge closed due to a supporting stone wall that partially collapsed. Since then, the bridge has been closed. The County started work the minute the bridge wall collapse was discovered and has been working non-stop with engineers, biologists, historical resource experts and a contractor to evaluate the situation and figure out the best way to repair the bridge. The partial collapse was caused by a series of crashes by vehicles and large trucks over the last decade that weakened the supporting wall.
The Historic Columbia River Highway entrance to the Stark Street Bridge where the wall collapsed is structurally compromised, is unsafe to put vehicles on and will have to be replaced. The County also discovered 6 to 8-inch holes in the bridge deck, which were easier to detect with traffic off the bridge. The County also found that the opposite side retaining wall is also in danger of collapse .
Multnomah County secured an under-deck unit to fix the holes in the deck next week, but the collapsed support wall is much more complicated and will take a lot longer to repair.
On Thursday, the County met on site with its designer, contractor and the Oregon Department of Transportation at the end of the bridge where the wall collapsed. Based on preliminary inspections, extensive reconstruction of the bridge approach will be required before traffic can be allowed back onto the bridge. Repairs could take up to six months.
Work to reconstruct the approach will start with geotechnical investigations in the Historic Columbia River Highway to ensure that repair work does not impact the highway. That work will reduce the highway to one lane for periods of time in the next few weeks. Press releases will be sent out ahead of lane closures and will be posted on the project website that will be set up next week.
The County was already working on the preliminary steps to replace or significantly rehabilitate the bridge because of its condition and lack of capacity. In the future, the County will need to make more permanent repairs either as part of a bridge replacement or through a project to build a new permanent approach.
The Association of Oregon Counties released The 2024 County Roads Needs Study on September 26 and presented the report to the Joint Legislative Committee on Transportation. Overall, Oregon counties face a shortfall of $834 million annually primarily for operations and maintenance. Multnomah County manages 170 miles of roads, 21 bridges, 1700 culverts and six large bridges over the Willamette River. 47% of the County’s road surface area is in need of replacement to remain functional long term. The County will continue to share concerns, priorities and ideas for solutions to help state legislators build a transportation funding package in 2025 that will support the needs of local communities.