In addition to the light rail, the bridge also handles car and pedestrian traffic as seen in the first picture. How much would you pay for this bridge? But wait there’s more! The bridge also handles regular train traffic, such as the Amtrak train crossing on the bottom section in the second picture. What if I told you the middle of the bridge can be raised to allow tall ships to pass underneath? Now how much would you pay?
This bridge can do it all! It’s a steal! Or at least a Steel!
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Rise With Us
When we first moved to Portland, the only advertising on the silos was a slogan that said “Amazon wouldn’t fit here”, which you can still see a bit behind the current advert. I suppose it was ad to demonstrate how Amazon had gotten so large that they couldn’t fill up these massive silos. But there were rumors at the time of Amazon adding a Portland office so I was never sure that this wasn’t a dig at a large national store coming in to local-store-friendly Portland. I’m guessing political slogans wouldn’t be quite so professionally done …
The current ad is for the Portland Trailblazers who play across the street in the Rose Garden, the slogan refers to the talented young team of likable players, a far cry from the Jailblazers of recent years. |
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Silos
Standing in the middle of the Steel Bridge you can see both shores of the Willamette: the working shore on the east and the residential shore on the west. These pictures show the industrial side where the ships are loaded and unloaded. The closest terminal houses the huge silos where grain is stored.
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Ships, Trains, & Automobiles
You can see a train pulling into the terminal and both a barge and an ocean-going ship in the background. Also note the waterfowl around the barge, they pick up the grain that spills into the water like a dog eating fallen scraps from the dinner table. I'm always pleased to include wildlife in my non-wildlife shots.
You can also see the Broadway Bridge (the red bridge) in the background, and even a little bit of the large Fremont Bridge, the bridge I take on the rare days I drive to the office. |
