Purpose and Needs Statement
1.1 Introduction
1.1.1 The Yaquina Bay Bridge in Newport, Oregon. The bridge was built in 1936 connecting the cities of Newport, Oregon and South Beach, Oregon by holding U.S. Route 101. The length of the bridge is 3,223.3 feet with a steel arch that is 600 feet and two steel arches that are 350 feet. (Goff, 2008) Over 16,500 vehicles travel over the bridge in day with the number increasing to over 20,000 vehicles in the summer months. (Northwest Region-Yaquina Bay Bridge) The bridge consists of two lanes in each direction with a side walk on each side for pedestrians. The Yaquina Bay Bridge has an inventory rating of 15.4 metric tons and an operating rating of 26.3 metric tons that can span across the bridge at a given time. (Yaquina Bay Bridge)
1.1.2 The Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) proposes to widen and improve the Yaquina Bay Bridge structural deficiency on U.S. Route 101 in Lincoln County, Oregon. The total length of the proposed action is…show more content… The average daily traffic of the Yaquina Bay Bridge as of 2010 was 15,300 vehicles (Goff, 2008). In five years the number of vehicles grew to 16,500 vehicles per with some days going over 20,000 vehicles a day (Northwest Region-Yaquina Bay Bridge). Due to the Yaquina Bay Bridge being built in 1936 the bridge will always be deemed structurally deficient. (Region 2 Yaquina Bay Bridge FAQs) As the bridge ages the steel rusts and needs to replaced, reinforced, and upgraded to provide structural integrity. Due to the structural deficiency of the bridge heavy haul trucks are regulated on the bridge which can cause traffic delays of up to ten minutes. Around 200 heavy haul trucks affected each year by this regulation and the number is projected to grow with the increase of future traffic on the bridge. (Region 2 Yaquina Bay Bridge
