Bridge Safety Not an Immediate Concern

A John Day resident recently wrote an article in the Blue Mountain Eagle claiming the bridge at NW 3rd Avenue is unsafe.

This is simply not true.

The NW 3rd Avenue Bridge was designed with a 67-ton operating load, which is essentially any kind of truck that we typically see in our community. The reason it is posted at 15 tons is so that we can encourage larger trucks to come down Bridge Street, which allows them to cross Canyon Creek on the highway and avoid putting undue strain on our municipal bridges.

There is no safety concern with larger-weight vehicles using that bridge. On a scale of 1-10, the bridge deck is rated Good (7), Superstructure is Satisfactory (6), Substructure is Good (7), but there is some minor channel scouring that we'll need to deal with before too long.

For addiitonal information, please see the attached August 2021 Bridge Inspection Report.