Boone Bridge, Steel girder bridge in Wilsonville, Oregon, US
Boone Bridge is a steel girder bridge over the Willamette River at Wilsonville, Oregon, carrying Interstate 5 between the Portland metropolitan area and the Willamette Valley. It is 1,111 feet (339 m) long, 116 feet (35 m) wide and rises 75 feet (23 m) above the river, with three travel lanes in each direction. The bridge stands just east of the former Boone's Ferry landing.
The bridge opened in 1954 and replaced the former Boones Ferry operation that had transported people and vehicles across the river. This new crossing modernized regional transportation and connected communities more directly.
The name honours Alphonso Boone, grandson of Daniel Boone, and his son Jesse, who ran Boone's Ferry here from 1847. A bronze marker on one pier commemorated the name until it was removed during widening. In 1995 the bridge was re-dedicated, with a sign on the span and a plaque at the nearby rest area recalling the ferry.
Boone Bridge carries three lanes of Interstate 5 in each direction and is the second I-5 crossing of the Willamette, downstream of Portland's Marquam Bridge. Oregon Route 217 and Interstate 205 funnel traffic onto it, so it is a regional choke point; officials have weighed a new span estimated at $48,424,000. A Portland & Western Railroad bridge stands just upriver to the west.
A bronze marker once sat in one of the bridge's piers to honour the Boone family; it was removed when the bridge was widened. The bridge is the second crossing of the Willamette by Interstate 5, the first being Portland's Marquam Bridge downstream.
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