PORTLAND, Ore. — Multnomah County announced Wednesday that it has selected a contractor for the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge Project, which will replace the existing Burnside Bridge with a modern structure. The project is tentatively planned to start construction in early 2026 and wrap up in 2031, but that timeline depends on securing full funding.
The contractor is Burnside Bridge Partners, a joint venture between Stacy and Witbeck, Traylor Bros and American Bridge, according to a news release from the county, and the group will officially begin design work in December. The partnership includes some local construction connections — Stacy and Witbeck has been involved in building Portland Streetcar and light rail lines, and American Bridge helped build the original Burnside Bridge, according to the county.
The current structure is nearly 100 years old, and like most of Portland's older river crossings, it's expected to collapse during a major Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. The county owns most of those vulnerable bridges and is prioritizing the Burnside Bridge for replacement due to its central location.
"An Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge will literally be the lifeline this region relies on in the event of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake. The building of it is also a huge economic driver for our County, which is why I’m so pleased our construction contractor Burnside Bridge Partners have the expertise to help Multnomah County build collaboratively, sustainably and equitably," Multnomah County Chair Jessica Vega Pederson said in a statement. "Welcome to the team, and let’s get to work!"
The project has been in planning since 2016, but the failure of a Metro transportation ballot measure in 2020 and rising construction costs have made bridge's financial situation tighter, forcing the county to look for ways to cut costs such as using cheaper bridge design options and shrinking the bridge width to four lanes rather than the current crossing's five.
The county is aiming for an upper limit of $895 million for the project's overall cost, about $300 million of which will come from the county itself through local vehicle registration fee revenue. The Oregon Legislature kicked in $20 million earlier this year, and the county is in the process of seeking additional revenue sources, the biggest of which is a $447 million federal grant application that the county said it would submit over the summer.
In another cost-conscious decision, a county FAQ warns that the existing Burnside Bridge will be demolished at the start of construction and there will be no Burnside river crossing available until the new bridge is complete. Building the new bridge adjacent to the old one or using a temporary bridge during construction would increase the project cost to an unacceptable degree, according to the county.