Sean C. Morgan
Of The New Era
Community Development Department and Public Works staff partially painted Weddle Bridge last week, primarily to prepare for an annual photo of Jamboree volunteers and for the event itself.
Workers started on the north end of the bridge for the photo, and then they realized the entire bridge really needed painting, Community Development Director Carol Lewis said. “We had the paint from Hoy’s donated, and it seemed like the time.”
Lewis is working to prepare a contract for Phil Pierce, an engineer and covered bridge expert from New York, to develop a plan for phasing the repair of Weddle Bridge, she said.
“Phil’s analysis will be done in about eight weeks,” Lewis said. He will start engineering at that point, but Lewis said she is asking him to think about phase one engineering during analysis to speed the process.
Pierce, in the meantime, is close to receiving his certification to work in Oregon.
The bridge has three main areas that need repair, Lewis said. Those include the upper chord on the west side of the bridge and two sections under the bridge.
In the first phase, the upper chord, a beam that supports the roof, would be replaced and the roof completed by winter, Lewis said. The roofing is in storage, and Jim Cota has had a timber milled and stored in Philomath to replace the upper chord.
“In the meantime, by mid to the end of July, we’ll have three new cribs under the bridge, so we can open it during the Jamboree,” Lewis said. The bridge already has one crib, a temporary support structure, underneath; and the bridge was opened and crossed by Jamboree volunteers on Saturday.
Mike Melcher and Wayne Shilts are working on the cribbing, and Karla Burcham is working with Weyerhaeuser to procure 12-by-12 beams for the structure under the bridge.
The cribs will allow the fire department to bring an ambulance across the bridge and allow Jamboree volunteers to use the bridge over Jamboree weekend. Volunteers use the bridge as an access point to the Jamboree.
Lewis did not know whether the bridge would remain open after the Jamboree, she said.
People would get used to it, but it would soon need to be closed again for construction.
In addition, the city may need to close Dahlenburg Bridge, the small bridge near Weddle, too, Lewis said.
Vandals have kicked holes in the roof and boards loose from the railings, particularly on the south end of the bridge, which overlooks Ames Creek.