Photos: Your First Look at Tilikum Crossing... From Tilikum Crossing

On Wednesday, October 1, U.S. Secretary of Transportation Anthony Foxx took a tour of the car-proof Tilikum Crossing bridge connecting OMSI to the South Waterfront—along with a small coterie of media.  

The $134.6 million, wonderfully named bridge isn't scheduled to open officially until September 12, 2015 (though there will be a soft opening of sorts on August 9 that coincides with Providence Bridge Pedal's 20th anniversary). Planners hope the bridge will connect OHSU students to cheaper rent on the east side, scads of westside food tourists to restaurant-dense Division Street, and would-be toe-dippers to riverfront property along now-desolate Zidell Yards. The Oregon Museum of Science and Industry hopes the bridge will bring a real-estate boom to the Central Eastside. The bridge will certainly carry the new Orange Line MAX, connecting downtown Portland to... downtown Milwaukie.  

Oh, and did we mention that the Tilikum Crossing is made from American-sourced (and usually local) components, designed to withstand a 475-year seismic event? And that 1.5 percent of the bridge's civil construction funds—about $3 million—were set aside for public art, including a light show on the cable stays that'll change color depending on the current status of the river? And the bridge can save puppies from burning buildings and is fluent in six languages?

Just kidding. All snark melts away under the bridge's cool white glow. Here, we'll show you:

Among other engineering feats, the bridge's sidewalk decks are only 10 inches thick. The entire bridge is as thin as possible to provide as much clearance as possible for barges passing underneath. Steel post-tensioned strands take the place of rebar, while Styrofoam in sections of the bridge makes it lighter.

The points of the cable-stays as they connect the towers to the deck are meant to reflect the silhouette of Mount Hood, as do the points on the railings.

Although the bridge appears largely completed—certainly enough so to support the weight of about twenty journalists and a few forklifts—it'll take another year to wire and electrify the light rail. Oh, and to put in hand rails to prevent people from plunging into the river as they admire the view. 

TriMet will also be training about 1,900 bus drivers, MAX operators and streetcar operators on how to cross the bridge. Apparently that's a thing.

WWeek 2015