PORTLAND, Ore. — For 50 years, the Fremont Bridge has stretched across the Willamette River, connecting North Portland with Northwest Portland via Interstate 405.
The bridge, originally painted in a color called Celery Green, was a stark difference in style compared to the more plain-looking Marquam Bridge, which had opened just a few years earlier in 1966.
It took four years and cost 82 million dollars to build the bridge. The 902 foot long mid-span arch was floated down the Willamette River and it took more than two days to hoist it 170 feet into the air.
When the bridge opened in 1973, 35,000 cars drove across it that day. Now, more than 101,000 cars drive across the bridge daily.
At the top of the bridge sits both the United States and Oregon state flags, almost 400 feet in the air. The flagpoles were installed three years after the bridge opened to mark the nation's centennial.
When Oregon's governor or the president of the United States orders flags to be lowered, workers with the Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) make the change by climbing inside the arch's walls to reach the platform above. In 1996, KGW went up through the hollow walls of the arched bridge to see the changing of the flag.
"I enjoy it. Not a lot of people can say they've come up on top of the Fremont Bridge before. It's a neat part of the job," a worker told KGW at the time.
For a fast worker, it can take about 20 minutes to get to the top.
ODOT recently took video showing the names of people who have made the climb.
The Fremont Bridge remained the newest bridge in Portland for 42 years until Tilikum Crossing opened in 2015.
