Knowledge you can walk. Read the idea below, then step up to the general, across to peers or down to the specific.
Physical
Lower Columbia Bridges and Transportation
The river crossings and airports of the lower Columbia: the Interstate, Glenn L. Jackson, Lewis and Clark and St. Johns bridges, Portland International Airport and more.
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The idea
The bridges and airports of the Lower Columbia region connect Oregon and Washington across the Columbia River and link the area to the wider world. The Interstate Bridge is a pair of steel vertical-lift bridges that carry Interstate 5. Its northbound span opened in 1917 and its southbound twin in 1958; in 2006 the two carried 130,000 vehicles a day. The Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge, opened on December 15, 1982, carries Interstate 205, a freeway bypass of Portland.
Farther downriver, the Lewis and Clark Bridge spans the Columbia between Longview, Washington, and Rainier, Oregon. It opened in 1930 and is the only bridge over the river between Astoria and Portland. Within Portland, the St. Johns Bridge, a steel suspension bridge, crosses the Willamette River and is the tallest bridge in the city.
Two airports sit near the river. Portland International Airport, known by its code PDX, is the largest airport in Oregon. Pearson Field, a city-owned airport in Vancouver, is the oldest continuously operating airfield in the Pacific Northwest. Proposals to replace the Interstate Bridge, which is blamed for congestion on both the road and the river, have been debated since 2005.
Check yourself
Question 1 of 2
Which crossing carries the I-205 freeway over the Columbia?
Composition
what it's made of
- Columbia River bridges — The Interstate, Glenn L. Jackson Memorial and Lewis and Clark bridges, which join Oregon and Washington.
- Willamette River crossing — The St. Johns Bridge, a steel suspension bridge in Portland.
- Interstate highways — Interstate 5 on the Interstate Bridge and Interstate 205 on the Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge.
- Airports — Portland International Airport for passengers and cargo, and Pearson Field for general aviation.
- Bridge replacement planning — The Interstate Bridge Replacement Program, relaunched in 2019 after a joint legislative committee restarted the work in 2017.
Connection
how it relates
Under Lower Columbia Region
Change
how and why it evolves
- Past
- The first Interstate Bridge span opened in 1917 as a single bridge carrying two-way traffic. A plan to replace it, the Columbia River Crossing, was canceled in 2013 after the Washington state legislature declined to fund it. A joint Oregon–Washington legislative committee restarted the work in 2017, and the Interstate Bridge Replacement Program was relaunched in 2019.
- Now
- The program released a preferred design for the new crossing in 2022, and in August 2026 it asked firms to submit their qualifications.
- Next
- Traffic on the Glenn L. Jackson Memorial Bridge is expected to increase significantly once tolls begin on the Interstate Bridge.