While Multnomah County works to complete key design work for the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge Project, the County will again push out the start of construction in light of ongoing uncertainty around the availability of federal funds.
Previously the County announced construction would start in 2028; a new date has not yet been determined. The project in the meantime will reach what’s called the 60% design milestone by summer 2026.
Completing this work will ensure the project is construction-ready. It’s a proactive approach that will ensure the County is well-prepared to move quickly once the necessary federal funding becomes available. Receiving federal funding is a necessary step that will allow the project to bring family wage jobs to the region and improve seismic resiliency on a regional lifeline route.
“The current federal climate is impacting local public agencies nationwide, making it challenging to carry out crucial infrastructure projects without critical funding,” Multnomah County Department of Community Services Director Margi Bradway said. “As uncertain as the future appears, if and when things change, our goal is for the County to be as resourceful and prepared as possible to offer a construction-ready project. When the federal government is ready to invest in our region again, we will be prepared to hit the ground running and maximize the benefits that federal funding offers. Multnomah has been successful at securing local, state and federal funds for the design of the bridge; and more recently; $10 million dollars of regional funding, which will keep the project moving forward.”
Rising costs for labor and materials have pushed the estimated range of costs for this project to $1.6 billion to $1.8 billion. To address this, the project team spent months on a process called value engineering, which is a thorough review of the project's design and construction methods to ensure the maximum value for taxpayer dollars spent on the project.
The team successfully identified nearly $160 million in cost savings without compromising the bridge's safety or functionality. These savings were found by making the design and construction more cost-effective.
“We even revisited the design of the bridge to evaluate whether different choices would still meet the goals of the project at a lower cost,” Multnomah County Transportation Division Director Jon Henrichsen said. “The team and independent construction industry experts determined there were no major changes that would result in significant savings. Between recent increases in construction costs and funding uncertainty, it is not the right time to move forward with construction. We want to proceed cautiously as stewards of public funds.”
Project Background
Right now, none of downtown Portland’s Willamette River vehicular bridges will be immediately usable after a major earthquake. Multnomah County is leading an effort to replace the current Burnside Bridge with one that can withstand a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. It’s currently one of the largest earthquake resilience projects in Oregon.
In 2015, the County identified the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge project as a top priority project in its Willamette River Bridge Capital Improvement Plan. The County then conducted a Feasibility Study Phase (2017-2019) that lasted two years. During this phase, the project team studied more than 100 options including tunnels, ferries, double-deck bridges and other bridge options. From that study, four bridge alternatives were recommended for further evaluation in the Environmental Review Phase (2019-2023). After a robust environmental analysis of the four alternatives, and with input from the community, agencies and regulatory bodies, the Replacement Long-Span was selected as the Preferred Alternative.
Multnomah County began the Design Phase in fall 2023 and evaluated a range of tied arch and cable stay options for the Replacement Long Span Alternative. Throughout that process, the County considered cost, schedule, constructability, risk and impacts to stakeholders. Six options were advanced to the project’s Community Design Advisory Group and the public for consideration.
At its board meeting Thursday, Sept. 12, 2024, the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners unanimously adopted a resolution to move forward with the inverted Y-cable-stayed tower design option for the future look of the new Burnside Bridge.
In winter 2025, crews spent several months building a 10-foot diameter test shaft (foundation) in Tom McCall Waterfront Park to understand how the soil composition would interact with the new Burnside Bridge foundations. Check out the project’s time-lapse video for a full look at the test shaft work.
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