Blasting at the Sellwood Bridge, Mar. 13 - 14

Traffic Alerts

Daytime: The outside southbound lane of Hwy. 43 is closed from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m. weekdays between SW Taylors Ferry Road and the bridge while the contractor excavates the hillside west of the highway.

Nighttime: Blasting is scheduled on March 13 and 14 as part of the work to widen Highway 43 for the new bridge interchange. On blast nights, intermittent closures of traffic lanes and the highway and bridge will happen between 7 p.m. and 5 a.m. Gates to Riverview Cemetery will be closed from dusk to dawn on March 13 & 14 next week due to nighttime blasting on the west side of Highway 43. Highway and bridge closures will last from 5 to 20 minutes for each blast. Five minutes and one minute before each blast, a warning siren will sound. The siren will probably be louder than the blast itself. Two or three blasts are scheduled each night between 9 pm and 3 a.m. Travelers can avoid delays by choosing alternate routes on blast nights. Click here for more information about blasting.

West Side Work

Retaining Walls – Excavation of the hillside west of the highway continues, in preparation for construction of retaining walls this year.

Landslide Work – Work to stabilize the landslide is about 85% complete and is expected to be finished in April.  

Tree Removal – The contractor plans to remove several trees near the Taylors Ferry intersection with Hwy. 43 next week to prepare for a U-turn detour that will be needed later due to construction phasing.  In 2014 westbound bridge traffic will be prohibited from turning left (south) onto Hwy. 43.  Southbound traffic will be diverted northbound on Hwy. 43 to the U-turn at Taylors Ferry. There traffic can safely turn around to resume southbound travel.

Trees will be removed this month near the trail at Stephens Creek in preparation for construction of a new culvert over the creek.  There will be intermittent closures of the trail with flaggers to assist cyclists and pedestrians.

Several trees will be removed on the south side of the bridge this month for a construction entrance.

Trees will be replanted in all these locations at the end of the project.

East Side Work

Work Bridge – Constructing the east work bridge and its land approach continues. The contractor drove pile today for the span above the river bank. Next week the contractor will install horizontal structural steel for this span.  The east and west work bridges will be used as platforms to build the new bridge.

Sellwood Harbor – Work at the north end of the condominium complex south of the bridge is wrapping up this month, as the contractor completes final punch list items.

Construction Work Hours

Normal weekday work hours are 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. Work hours for eastside condominiums are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. weekdays.