Local residents will design parts of the Burnside Bridge in upcoming survey

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) – Multnomah County residents will soon be able to weigh in on the forthcoming design for the Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge Project.

Design plans are nearing completion, but before blueprints are set in stone, county leaders plan to open a public survey through the month of July allowing community members to decide on some final touches.

“At nearly 100 years old, this is the community’s bridge and the County wants its new construction to be something the community is proud of now and into the future,” officials said.

Survey participants will get to consider three cable stays and three tied arches by “using interactive graphics and watching 3D videos that simulate the experience of being on and near the bridge.”

The survey will be available on the county's website from July 1 through July 31.

The public can also attend an interactive live panel discussion with project team members and community representatives at OMSI from 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. on July 11.

The project, which began in 2019, has worked with several groups – including engineers, architects, and other agencies – for aesthetic plans, structural components, costs and long-term maintenance needs.

The project aims to replace the Burnside Bridge with a bridge that will withstand a Cascadia Subduction Zone quake, which is expected in the zone every 300-500 years.

According to Multnomah County, the project is necessary because no vehicular bridges that cross the Willamette River would be usable after a major earthquake.

January 26, 2024, marked the 324th anniversary of the most recent earthquake — a massive magnitude 9 quake spanning Northern California to British Columbia.

As pressure builds between the Juan de Fuca plate and the North American Plate, Oregon’s Office of Emergency Management says there’s about a 37% chance of a megathrust earthquake in the Cascadia Subduction Zone in the next 50 years.