Aberdeen’s New Gateway Across the Wishkah
Construction begins on a crucial Howe truss drawbridge to link Heron and Front Streets, signaling rapid urban growth.
The story, cleaned up
A cleaned-up reading of the newspaper page: spelling and layout repaired, one story lifted off a crowded page. It follows the original closely but it is not a transcription. The original page is below; read it if a detail matters.
The San Francisco Bridge Company has the timber for the bridge to connect Heron and Front streets across the Wishkah on the ground and ready to be put up as soon as the piles can be obtained. These have been ordered from a mill near Centralia. This bridge is to be a Howe truss drawbridge with a counter-weight arm. The draw will be 12 feet; length of truss, 258 feet; height of towers, 44 feet; depth of truss, 29 feet; distance from center to center of trusses, 17 feet. It will be composed of ten panels of 20 feet each and will have two walks of four feet each for foot passengers. The clear roadway will be 16 feet. Eighty thousand feet of lumber will be used, and the cost will aggregate $6,250. The work is being done under the direction of E. O'Neil. The bridge, owing to Aberdeen’s rapid development, has long been a necessity, and besides being a convenience to the public, will undoubtedly be a paying investment.
“The bridge, owing to Aberdeen’s rapid development, has long been a necessity.”
The Wishkah River remains a vital vein in Aberdeen's geography. While the Howe truss bridge of 1891 was a wooden marvel of its day, the city continues to navigate the recurring logistical challenge of bridging its waterways to accommodate modern traffic and commercial flow.
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