Skip to main content

Deadwood Covered Bridge - Oregon

Image
By

 


Spanning 105 feet across Deadwood Creek in western Lane County, Oregon is the Deadwood Covered Bridge. The bridge was originally called the Alpha Bridge after what was then the town of Alpha, about 2 miles north of the bridge. But since Alpha is now a ghost town, the name of Deadwood Bridge stuck, taking its current name from the creek the bridge crosses over. The covered bridge was designed with a Howe through truss when it was first built in 1932 by Lane County bridge builder Miller Sorenson. The bridge's flooring was installed on a slant so traffic that was rounding the corner onto the bridge would travel more safely. There is also a window on the north side of the covered bridge. The cost to build the covered bridge totaled $4,814, and thus, the Deadwood Covered Bridge became part of the Oregon's secondary road system.

Over time, the Deadwood Covered Bridge became dilapidated. During the 1970s, a concrete bridge was built nearby to take traffic away from the covered bridge. When the bridge's structural condition worsened in the early 1980s, Lane County officials decided to rehabilitate the covered bridge. In 1986, workers replaced damaged siding, flooring and portal boards from the covered bridge, along with working on the bracing, roof and bridge approaches. Following restoration of the bridge to near mint condition, a dedication ceremony in October 1986 marked the reopening of the covered bridge to vehicular traffic. The Deadwood Covered Bridge looks solid today, even if most of the traffic is sees is from covered bridge enthusiasts and local residents of various species, given the bridge's remote location.


Entering the east portal of the covered bridge.

The west portal of the covered bridge. You can see the open air windows on the north side of the bridge.

One of the local residents, firmly suggesting that I turn around and go over the covered bridge again.

How to Get There:



Sources and Links:
Bridgehunter.com - Deadwood Covered Bridge 37-20-38
Oregon Coast Visitors Association - Deadwood Covered Bridge
Eugene Cascades & Coast - Deadwood Covered Bridge
Pacific Northwest Photoblog - Deadwood Covered Bridge
Labels:
Location: 15545 Deadwood Loop Rd, Deadwood, OR 97430, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

By
The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...
3 comments
Read more

Hawaii Route 50

By
Hawaii Route 50 is the longest Sign Route on the island of Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The entirety of Hawaii Route 50 is overlaid atop Kaumualii Highway from Lihue west to the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands. Hawaii Route 50 is one of the original 1955-era State Highway designations on Kauai.  Much of the Kaumualii Highway corridor was constructed during the sugar plantation boom of the late Hawaiian Kingdom.  The first tee beam bridge in Hawaii would be constructed along the Kaumualii Highway in 1911 at the Hanapepe.  Much of this highway would be modernized to two-lane standards through the 1930s and 1940s. This page is part of the Gribblenation Hawaii Roads series.  A compellation of all Hawaii-related media from both Gribblenation and RoadwayWiz can be found by clicking  here .  Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 50 and Kaumualii Highway Hawaii Route 50 is the longest highway on Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The highway begins at Rice Str...
Post a Comment
Read more

Ghost Town Tuesday; Nichols, FL

By
A couple years ago I spent a lot of spare time exploring phosphate mining ghost towns in the Bone Valley of Polk County, Florida.  One ghost town in particular called Nichols on Polk County Route 676 west of Mulberry caught my eye due to a relative lack of documentation on ghosttowns.com. Nichols was created in 1905 during the early phosphate mining boom in the Bone Valley region.  For the time Nichols was unusual since it had company housing in the Nichols Mine site and private residences outside the gate.  Nichols is only about two miles west of Mulberry which probably made it a somewhat reasonable commute even by the wonky standards of the early 20th Century.  Most of the Bone Valley region was relatively remote which made commuting or homesteading impractical which is why there are so many ghost towns in the area.  The company housing section of Nichols was phased out and abandoned by 1950. The Nichols town site is largely abandoned and could "possibl...
4 comments
Read more