New bridge presents major opportunity for local firms

With a current cost estimate of $330 million, the Sellwood Bridge Project presents a huge business opportunity for local firms. Design and construction of the bridge are expected to provide business for more than a hundred companies. Suppliers and subcontractors will range from steel fabricators to geologists and everything in between.

With the project entering the design phase, Multnomah County is working to spread the word about upcoming opportunities for local companies. One example is a Small Business Showcase to be held on Wednesday, October 27 from 12 noon to 2 pm at David Evans and Associates, 2100 SW River Parkway in Southwest Portland.

Members of the County’s Sellwood Bridge project team, including Project Manager Michael Eaton and Purchasing Coordinator Sophia Cavalli, will be on hand to discuss anticipated opportunities for local firms. The event will provide Disadvantaged Minority, Women and Emergency Small Businesses with an opportunity to network and learn about the Sellwood project. Staff from the Portland to Milwaukie Light Rail Project, another major capital project advancing next year, will also attend to share contracting information.

To RSVP for the event (which includes lunch), contact Lauri Nelson at 503-499-0345, lane@deainc.com). Special thanks to David Evans and Associates for hosting the event.

Information about the Request for Proposals for Architecture and Engineering Services to design the bridge is available on the County’s Purchasing website.

News video shows crumbling state of bridge

People often ask “Is the Sellwood Bridge safe to use?” Engineers working for Multnomah County and independent firms regularly inspect the condition of the bridge to answer that question.

The good news is that these experts believe the bridge remains safe to use. The bad news is that the bridge’s deterioration is quite advanced, especially for a bridge that carries so much daily traffic (30,000 motor vehicles a day). And despite fixes the county has made, the deterioration is getting worse.

The Portland Tribune recently created a short video focusing on the current condition of the bridge. This three-minute video tour provides a close-up look at some of the structure’s main problems. You can see the video at http://www.blip.tv/file/4186677.

The County’s goal is to keep the bridge open until the new bridge is constructed. We hope to start building the new bridge in 2012 and open it to traffic by 2015.

Preferred alternative wins federal approval

It’s been a big week for the Sellwood Bridge Project. After a planning effort that began in 2006, the federal government approved the preferred alternative to replace the Sellwood Bridge. The record of decision by the Federal Highway Administration marks the end of the project’s planning phase and the start of the design phase.


The first task in the design phase will be to select a structure type for the new bridge. A few days after the record of decision, members of the project’s Community Advisory Committee met to recommend a bridge structure type. The committee, which includes representatives of neighborhoods, businesses and bridge user groups, recommended a steel deck arch, which was also popular with citizens who took an online survey last summer.

This fall members of the citizen committee will present their recommendation to a committee of elected and appointed officials from jurisdictions with an interest in the Sellwood Bridge. The Public Stakeholder Committee will consider public input before recommending a structure type to the Multnomah County Board of Commissioners, who will make the final selection this fall. Construction is expected to begin in 2012.

Survey results are in: low and moderate cost Sellwood Bridge options most popular

Thanks to everyone who participated in the recent public preference survey for the Sellwood Bridge project. Almost 2,500 of you took the time to provide feedback on the bridge types under consideration for the new structure. Complete survey results are available on the project website.

Survey highlights include:
* People want a bridge that can be easily maintained and is affordable
* They also want an attractive structure on a neighborhood scale that fits the location
* Amenities on the deck such as viewing areas, decorative lighting and gateway features are desired
* The arched bridges (deck arch and tied arch) were very popular, as was the girder type
* Larger, iconic superstructures (through arch and extradosed) were not as popular
* There is a preference for a steel bridge over a concrete bridge

So what happens next? The survey results have been provided to the project’s Community Advisory Committee, which has considered all of the public input and is in the process of making a bridge type recommendation in October. A committee of elected and appointed leaders from the region will also weigh in before Multnomah County's Board of Commissioners makes the final selection on a new bridge type this fall.

Thanks again to everyone who shared their views with us on the new Sellwood Bridge.

Best structure type for Sellwood? Riverdale 3rd graders opt for cable stay!

More than a thousand people have taken our online survey to tell us which structure type they prefer for the new Sellwood Bridge. While opinions come in, a group of third grade students did not miss their opportunity to tell us what they think. According to Debbie Gorenstein, a third grade teacher at Riverdale Grade School, her students would like the new crossing to be a cable stay bridge *.

Riverdale School is about two miles south of the bridge in unincorporated Multnomah County. According to Debbie, “The children worked with partners to design a Sellwood Bridge with $15. We collected recycled materials all year and set up a bridge store. The teams bought the materials from the store. It is a very fun project.”

A slide show on the school’s website shows the students created a cable stay bridge model from cardboard, masking tape and other materials. The Sellwood Project Team should take note: if these 3rd graders can create an iconic bridge model with just $15, what can the project do with several hundred million dollars?

* Survey takers may recall that the cable stay option is not one of the options being considered. The cable stay option was studied during the project’s planning phase. It was determined to be too costly and not practical for a new Sellwood crossing.

County vehicle fee will fund new Sellwood Bridge

One of the most difficult parts of any large transportation project is finding funds. A new Multnomah County vehicle registration fee that goes into effect in September will help fund the Sellwood Bridge replacement. It was adopted in 2009 by the Board of County Commissioners. The fee is $19 per year per vehicle, or $38 for a two-year renewal.

Multnomah County residents will pay the new fee to the state DMV when they renew their state vehicle registration. If you do not have an address change at the time of renewal, you can pay the new fee at a DEQ vehicle inspection station after passing the required emissions test.

The fee goes into effect for vehicles in Multnomah County with registration expiring during September 2010 or after. Please note that it’s not possible to avoid the fee by renewing early. The fee is based on when a vehicle’s registration expires, which can’t be changed. Revenue from the fee will be used to replace the Sellwood Bridge, as required by state law.

The fee will be in effect for approximately 20 years, to pay off construction bonds for the new bridge. The fee is projected to raise $127 million to help pay for the new bridge. Clackamas County is expected to adopt a vehicle fee dedicated to the Sellwood Bridge project later this year.

For information on Multnomah County’s vehicle fee, visit www.multco.us/vrf, email multcovrf@co.multnomah.or.us, or call 503-988-4296.

What type of new bridge would you like to see?

Many thanks to the 113 people who joined us last night for our open house at Oaks Park. Nearly everyone who attended submitted a comment form with their thoughts about the six bridge types under consideration to replace the Sellwood Bridge. Our project team enjoyed talking with folks and learning more about what people like and don’t like about the options.

If you weren’t able to attend the meeting, there is still time to make your voice heard in the bridge type decision. Just take the online survey located on the homepage. You can do so through Sunday, August 8. The results of the survey will be compiled and provided to the Community Advisory Committee before they make their bridge type recommendation to decision makers. The decision should be announced this fall. Keep checking the project website for updates.

Thanks as always for your interest in the project.