Hawthorne Bridge, Portland Oregon

Portland Oregon may be unique among cities in the United States. Apart from having a section of the old airport carpet attaining a semi-cult following (it was the Grand marshal of their Starlight parade, after all), it is a weird and wonderful place, and filled with activists, pot users (now legal!), counterculturists, hipsters, artists and unemployed or underemployed young people. Occasionally, you can find Green-Peacers hanging off bridges.

Speaking of bridges, a visit to Portland will undoubtedly mean crossing one of 21 bridges. The Willamette River cuts through the city and the mighty Columbia flows past just to the north.

The Portland bridge that caught my eye was the Hawthorne. It is the oldest bridge in Portland,  built in 1910 replacing two prior bridges built on that spot in 1891 and 1902, respectively. A complete history and description can be found here.

It is a typical truss bridge with an atypical vertical lift draw. The towers and the counterweights of the draw mechanism makes this bridge visually attractive, to me anyway.

The Hawthorne Bridge at night:

Hawthorne Bridge, Portland OR,

Geeky Stuff:

Nikon d800e

Nikkor 70-200mm 2.8

ASA 200, f/16 30 seconds

Love and support of friends and family