Main Street Bridge in Hillsboro, Oregon

In 1917 the Oregon Electric Railway built a wooden trestle at this location over East Main Street at Southeast 18th Avenue in Hillsboro, Oregon, with a clearance height of only 10’-6”. After successor Burlington Northern abandoned freight service in the 1970s, the trestle was removed in 1977. This bridge was built in 1997 to carry the Blue Line of Tri-Met's MAX light rail to downtown Hillsboro. The 425-foot long, 34-foot wide post tension box girder bridge is suspended with six four-inch cables from a reinforced concrete tied arch designed to accommodate a future widening of Main Street to five lanes without a center support. The reinforced concrete arch is 78 feet tall with the ends connected underground using a post-tension tie beam. The bridge was completed in September 1997, and the “golden spike” of the Westside light rail line was driven on the bridge in October 1997. Regular service on the line began on September 12, 1998.