Andrew Martin presented this unique piece of photo artwork recently and because of that, it’s being featured here in this week’s Pic feature. It’s a dronage photo of a three-span Marsh Rainbow Arch Bridge that was taken at sundown near the city of Grants Pass, in Josephine County, Oregon. Some criticized it as a doctored piece. But with the advancement of technology and digital photography, the shot looks as real as it gets- unaltered and natural looking.
The bridge featured here is the Caveman Bridge. It was one of dozens of bridges built by engineer Conde McCollough, who left his mark spanning over 40 years. He helped design over 600 bridges-most of them located in Oregon and Washington state plus along the Pacific Coast Highway. His signature was the architectural details that were designed on the bridge, such as Gothic spires, art deco obelisks, and Romanesque arches incorporated into the bridges. He was one of the main disciples of the Iowa School of Bridge Builders, which included George E. King, the Carpenter Family (Edwin, Hamilton and James), Wickes Family, N.M. Stark and McCollough’s mentor and inventor of the Marsh Arch, James B. Marsh. McCollough worked for Marsh for one year before moving to the highway agency (later known as Iowa DOT). In 1916, he moved to Oregon where he was a bridge designer and teacher of civil engineering until his death in 1946.
The Caveman Bridge is an example of McCollough’s signature piece, combined with the design that he used based on Marsh’s invention. The structure was built in 1931 and is the third structure built at this location over Rogue River. The first one was constructed in 1886 and featured two Pratt through truss spans. It was followed by another through truss span built with a trapezoidal upper chord in 1890. Because of the increase in traffic, the city turned to McCollough to construct the three-span Marsh through arch design. The structure has maintained its integrity and aesthetic value ever since, only having been rehabilitated with an addition of a sidewalk in 2018-19. At the same time, the historic Redwood sign was also restored to its former glory.
The bridge still serves traffic today; it carries southbound Hwy. 99 and 6th Street SE and can be found just 300 feet from its junction with US Hwy. 199. While there are recreational areas available to get a on-land photo of the bridge, the drone photo by Martin could not be resisted and is therefore our Pic of the Week. Nice photo and congratulations! 🙂
Josephine County has several other unique bridges one can see. Two of which are a must:
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Remember: Your Bridge Matters! ❤
The Bridgehunter's Chronicles 