Tag Archives: Broadway bridge

Portland, Oregon

[/caption] This is the view of Portland from the Broadway bridge. The Broadway bridge offers some of the best views of the city but you need to make sure to get here before 10:30 am since the sun travels directly behind the city and the river, which causes too much glare and back light. This photo was taken at around 10:07 am and the sun was at about a 90 degree angle in the upper left corner. I was positioning the camera towards the SW part of the city and I was standing at about the middle part of the bridge span. The are some spots where you can find shade, to eliminate most of the glare, but if you get there early enough you won’t have to worry about the sun glare as much. Every bridge, in Portland, offers some great views and awesome photo opportunities but the Broadway bridge gives you the best bang for your buck.

Broadway Bridge in Portland, OR

[/caption] The Broadway bridge was the longest double-leaf bascule drawbridge in the world when it opened in 1913. It is a “rolling” lift span and has one of the most complicated and rarest opening methods of any movable bridge type anywhere else in the world. Now that the city of Portland is almost done extending the max line train service over the bridge, it will allow pedestrians to travel over the bridge without needing their automobile. The Broadway also offers one of the best views of Portland when standing or walking on the north side of the bridge. There is ample room to walk, jog or ride your bike and there are staircases that allow pedestrians to climb down in order to avoid the automobile congestion on either end. This photo was taken from the east side of the Willamette river and the buildings seen here are of the Pearl district. You can make the loop around the waterfront and the Broadway bridge is the northern most bridge that connects the loop system. You may catch an Osprey or Hawk standing on the top of the bridge or flying under or over it. You can also see snow caped Mt. Hood on a sunny day.