THE Bridge Field Trip

This is the field trip that I have been most excited about this year.  I have never taken the famous "Portland Bridge Tour", and I couldn't wait.  The day started off at ODOT., where we got to see how they monitor the flow of traffic and how they respond to any problems that occur on our roadways.

 Perhaps the coolest feature was the center of the conference table that turns into 'command central' at the touch of a button.  This got lots of oohs and ahhs.

This is our guide, Nathan.  He was so wonderful and knowledgeable about how the bridge system works in Portland.  He shared so much with us about the design of the bridges, the history, the use of the bridges.  It was a very comprehensive tour......plus, he was great with the kids....and made the whole day so enjoyable!

Also at ODOT, they have old bridge controls on display.  Along with pictures and models of the bridges.  It is a public display, so go check it out.

Next, we made our way down to the Morrison Bridge.  The Morrison is a truss style, beam bridge.

We got to  go down into one of the pier supports to see the inner workings of the bridge.   

It also uses a system of counterweights to raise the center section for river traffic.    That wall on the left side is half of the counterweights.  It is HUGE!

Here are the gears that move the weights to raise the bridge.

The highlight of this bridge was.......all of sudden, the gates went down.

Our guide led us onto the roadway deck of the bridge.

Then asked us to lay down.....affectionately calling us 'road-kill.'

And, the then bridge started to raise....

It was AMAZING!  Everything I hoped it would be.  I can understand why people remember this field trip over all others.  It was quite impressive.

Next, we went on a green-way walk on the west side of the river.  We went up on the Broadway  Bridge, then came down and did a wonderful river walk where we had a wonderful view of how our river looks.

We could also see the Fremont Bridge.

Somehow, I didn't get any pictures of the Steel Bridge.  Here is a stock picture of it.  It is the only bridge of its kind in the world.  It is a vertical lift bridge, but the bottom deck lifts up and folds into the top deck.  It is called 'telescoping.'  It is very cool to think that a one-of-a-kind bridge in our fair city!

We came back to school very tired, but it was so totally worth it.  An experience I hope the kids never forget!!!