In 1962, a steel tied-arch bridge opens at Vantage. The bridge carries Interstate 90 traffic across the Columbia River above the Wanapum reservoir.
The I-90 Bridge at Vantage replaced a two-lane bridge that had been constructed at nearly the same spot but at a lower elevation in 1927. The construction of the Wanapum Dam, which began operating in 1964, flooded the area through which the old bridge had passed and created a reservoir at this location. The new bridge crossed above the reservoir.
The Sunset Highway which the old Vantage Bridge had carried across the Columbia is now (2005) designated Interstate 90.
The old decommissioned 1927 bridge was stored and eventually reused on new support piers at Lyons Ferry.
Sources:
Ruth Kirk and Carmela Alexander, Exploring Washington’s Past: A Road Guide To History, Revised Edition (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1995), 117; Paul Dorpat and Genevieve McCoy, Building Washington: A History of Washington State Public Works (Seattle: Tartu Publications, 1998), 114; “Northwest Highways,â€Â (http://nwhighways.amhosting.net/ i90page_noframes.html).
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