$1.49 billion for Oregon-Washington bridge

The US states of Oregon and Washington recently received US$1.49 billion of federal money for their interstate bridge replacement (IBR) project.

The money is from the Federal Highway Administration’s Bridge Improvement Program and is the largest award for any bridge project in the country.

To officially commemorate the award, Shailen Bhatt, head of the US Department of Transportation’s Federal Highway Administration, was on hand this month to congratulate state officials.

“Under the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law’s Bridge Investment Program, we are making the single-largest dedicated investment in bridges since the construction of the interstate highway system,” said Bhatt. “Moreover, this grant in Oregon and Washington states is the largest of all the grants being awarded in this second round of funding.”

He said the investment of now more than $2 billion in federal Bipartisan Infrastructure Law funding underscores this momentous opportunity for the region and nation to replace the aging Interstate Bridge with a safer, seismically resilient and multimodal corridor that meets the needs of travelers today and into the future.

The Oregon Department of Transportation was the lead on a joint application with the Washington State Department of Transportation to request grants from the IBR program. The grant will help fund the replacement of the two aging vertical lift bridges that carry Interstate 5 highway over the Columbia River connecting Portland with Vancouver.

The existing Interstate Bridge is two bridges, side by side. The northbound span is over 100 years old, dating back to 1917. The southbound span opened in 1958. More than 138,000 vehicles crossed the Interstate Bridge each weekday in 2018, resulting in 7-10 hours of congestion during peak travel times.

Vancouver, a city of just under 200,000 in Washington, sits on the north bank of the Columbia River which is the border between Oregon state to the south. Opposite Vancouver is the city of Portland with a population of around 650,000, making it the largest city in Oregon. The I-5 connects Portland with Vancouver and is a major west coast US highway. It extends 2,220km from Washington’s northern border with Canada down to the southern tip of the state of California  - the border with Mexico.

This is the second major investment of federal infrastructure funding in the IBR programme in less than a year, having received $600 million from the USDOT’s Mega grant programme back in December 2023. As well, the Mega grant award was also the largest such award the USDOT programme has given out to date. Construction activity needed to get ready for the replacement bridge could begin in late 2025.

“We are incredibly grateful to our federal partners for this strong show of confidence that they agree replacing the interstate bridge is a national priority that cannot wait,” said Kris Strickler, director of the Oregon Department of Transportation.

“This is a huge milestone for the project that was made possible by leveraging the strong commitments already made by both states and the ongoing partnership and commitment of everyone involved at the local, regional and federal levels.”