Cable Bridge

Cable Bridge
Coordinates46°13′6.25″N 119°6′13.73″W / 46.2184028°N 119.1038139°W / 46.2184028; -119.1038139
CarriesFour lanes of SR 397, Sacagawea Heritage Trail
CrossesColumbia River
LocalePascoKennewick, Washington
Official nameEd Hendler Bridge
Maintained byWashington State Dept. of Transportation
ID number085555000000000
Characteristics
DesignCable-stayed bridge
Total length2,503 ft (762.9 m)[1]
Width80 ft (24.4 m)
Longest span981 ft (299.0 m)[2]
Clearance below48 ft (14.6 m)
History
DesignerJohn Clark, Arvid Grant, Holger S. Svensson
OpenedSeptember 8, 1978
Statistics
Daily traffic16,129 (2012),[3] 8,279 (1994)
Location
Map

The Cable Bridge, officially called the Ed Hendler Bridge and sometimes called the Intercity Bridge, spans the Columbia River between Pasco and Kennewick in southeastern Washington as State Route 397. It was constructed in 1978 and replaced the Pasco–Kennewick Bridge, an earlier span built in 1922 and demolished in 1990.

The bridge is one of seven major bridge structures in the Tri-Cities area. The Blue Bridge (another Pasco/Kennewick bridge), the Interstate 182 Bridge that connects Pasco with Richland, the U.S. Highway 12 bridge over the Snake River (Pasco/Burbank), and three railroad bridges are the others. However, the Cable Bridge is the only bridge that carries traffic that is not a freeway.

It was dedicated on September 8, 1978, and was the first major cable-stayed bridge to be built in the United States (and second-longest of its kind in the world at the time).[4][5] It was constructed almost entirely of prestressed concrete, beginning with the towers and followed by the bridge deck, which was cast in individual segments, raised up and secured to each other.

The bridge was named after Ed Hendler, a Pasco insurance salesman, as well as the city's former mayor, who headed up the committee responsible for obtaining the funding for construction of the bridge. Hendler died in August 2001.

A controversial feature of the bridge was added in 1998, when lights were added to illuminate the bridge at night. Many thought this was unnecessary and a waste of both electricity and money. During a power crisis in 2000, the lights were turned off, but they were turned on for one night to honor Hendler's passing. Now the lights are turned on at night, and turned off at 2 am.

In March 2007, the old guardrail system on the bridge, which consisted of steel cables, was replaced with a more rigid system, consisting of steel rails bolted to the original system's mounts on the bridge deck.

  1. ^ Weeks, John. "Ed Hendler Bridge". Retrieved 2008-05-27.
  2. ^ Walther, R.; Houriet, B.; Isler, W.; Moïa, P.; Klein, J.F. (1999). Cable Stayed Bridges (2nd ed.). London: Thomas Telford Publishing. p. 52. ISBN 0727727737.
  3. ^ "SR 397 over COLUMBIA RIVER". BridgeReports.com. Archived from the original on 31 October 2020. Retrieved 31 December 2021.
  4. ^ Culverwell, Wendy (September 16, 2018). "The incredible, improbable cable bridge turns 40". Tri-City Herald. p. A1. Retrieved September 19, 2018.
  5. ^ Lindblom, Mike (September 9, 2005). "High-Wire Act". The Seattle Times. Retrieved 2016-06-27.