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i~ <br /> I <br /> a <br /> NEWS RELEASE <br /> June 17, 1 86 <br /> Contact: Dave Thompson, 687-5594 <br /> Capt. L.L. Price, U.S. Marine Corps, 687-6428 <br /> FOR IMMEDI TE RELEASE <br /> VOLUNTEERS WELCOME WANDERING BRIDGE <br /> The Richardson Bridge is soon due to hit the road again. Built in 1912 <br /> <br /> j by the Coas Bridge Co. of Portland, it was originally installed on the <br /> Crooked Riv r near Prineville. Then in 1956, it was moved to the Siuslaw <br /> River near amp Lane to connect Stagecoach Road and Richardson Upriver Road <br /> with the Or gon State Highway 126. This summer the well-seasoned bridge will <br /> move yet ag in, this time to serve cyclists and pedestrians crossing the <br /> Amazon Chann 1 near Quaker Street (east of Bailey Hill Road) in west Eugene. <br /> The Natio al Historic Register has identified the bridge as the oldest <br /> remaining st el truss bridge with riveted connections in Oregon, and one of <br /> very few exa ples of this type of architecture in the United States. Age has <br /> taken its to 1, however. No longer can legally loaded log trucks safely use <br /> the bridge, nd alternate routes are time consuming and difficult to use. <br /> In 1985, ederal and state agencies undertook a study of alternatives to <br /> protect the ridge as a historic resource and to provide service to local <br /> residents an timber operations. They recommended that a new location be <br /> found for the historic bridge, and that a new bridge be built that meets <br /> ederal Highw y specifications. <br /> So Lane Co my advertised nationally for proposals on new uses and <br /> ~ocations for the bridge. The City of Eugene proposed to use the structure <br /> as a bicycle] edestrian bridge on the Amazon Channel (as part of the Fern <br /> more <br /> <br />