 SCOTTSBURG – The Oregon Department of Transportation formally dedicated the new Scottsburg Bridge and unveiled its plaque on Thursday morning. Participants included, from left, ODOT Southwest Oregon Area Manager Chris Hunter, ODOT Historian Larissa Rudnicki, Oregon Transportation Commissioner Julie Brown, ODOT Historian Chris Bell, former Oregon Transportation Commissioner Martin Callery, Scottsburg resident Sunnie Hedden, ODOT Director Kris Strickler, Hamilton Construction President Con O’Connor, and former Rep. Caddy McKeown. Hedden’s great-grandfather, John Hedden, cut the ceremonial ribbon to open the original Scottsburg Bridge in 1929.
ODOT formally opens new Scottsburg Bridge with dedication ceremony
Sept. 29, 2022
For more information: Dan Latham, ODOT Public information Officer, 541-817-5200.
SCOTTSBURG – The final link in a lifeline route between Interstate 5 and the southern Oregon coast formally opened this morning with the dedication of the Scottsburg Bridge on Oregon 38.
Funded by House Bill 2017 (The Keep Oregon Moving Act), the new $43 million Scottsburg Bridge is wider and on a better alignment than the original 1929 bridge. It has been built to withstand earthquakes and stay open in times of natural disasters.
“This new bridge will be here a lot longer than us,” ODOT Director Kris Strickler said. “It represents a seismic lifeline between the coast and Interstate 5. We don’t know when an earthquake will happen, but it takes leadership and foresight to get these improvements funded and built.”
Former Rep. Caddy McKeown, who helped guide passage of House Bill 2017 through the Oregon Legislature, shared credit with many others.
“It took everyone pulling on the same oar to make this project happen,” McKeown said. “I want to thank to the citizens of Oregon who trusted their representatives to vote for this bill to get the Scottsburg Bridge built and to keep Oregon moving.”
The old bridge had to be closed several times in the past to repair damage when trucks hit its steel truss. In April 2017, the bridge was closed for nearly five days due to a truck crash.
Prime contractor Hamilton Construction of Springfield began work on the new bridge in January 2020. Traffic was shifted onto the new bridge this past May and the old bridge was removed in August.
Other speakers at the event included Oregon Transportation Commissioner Julie Brown, former OTC member Martin Callery, Hamilton Construction President Con O’Connor, ODOT Interim Region Manager Darrin Neavoll and Southwest Area Manager Chris Hunter, and ODOT Historians Chris Bell and Larissa Rudnicki.
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 Scottsburg Bridge
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