RESOURCES
INCLUDING: BRIDGE BOOKS / BRIDGE CONVERSATION / RELEVANT LINKS
BRIDGE PEOPLE
BRIDGE EXPERTS OFFERING PROGRAMS SEPARATE FROM THE BRIDGE TOUR
CLICK EACH NAME FOR MORE INFO
CLICK EACH NAME FOR MORE INFO
AYSHA GHAZOUL (AYSHA/SHE)
lead bridge operator
Multnomah county department of community services
lead bridge operator
Multnomah county department of community services
Aysha Ghazoul is Multnomah County's Lead Bridge Operator. She enjoys sharing her experiences and stories with students, seniors, and everyone else who passes over, under, and across her favorite bridges. If you would like her to come and talk to your class or your group (fourth graders and up) feel free to reach out to her at aysha.ghazoul@multco.us.
sharon wood wortman (SHE/her)
Portland's "BRIDGE LADY"
and AUTHOR OF THE PORTLAND BRIDGE BOOK
Portland's "BRIDGE LADY"
and AUTHOR OF THE PORTLAND BRIDGE BOOK
Sharon Wood Wortman, best known as Portland's "Bridge Lady" for her books The Big & Awesome Bridges of Portland & Vancouver and The Portland Bridge Book and for leading tours of Portland's bridges for more than 20,000 walkers of all ages in her long bridge-guiding career (1991-2010), performs her favorite stories on a show-and-tell basis about Portland's bridges, with excerpts from her memoir, a work-in-progress. Preferably on a sit-down basis for small groups in well-lighted libraries or in other intimate spaces, and in exchange for a modest honorarium. At the ready in both PG and Adults-Only versions. You can reach Sharon by email at bridgestories@icloud.com.
BRIDGE BOOKS
ESSENTIAL READING
CLICK EACH TITLE FOR MORE INFO
CLICK EACH TITLE FOR MORE INFO
THE BIG & AWESOME BRIDGES OF PORTLAND & VANCOUVER
BY SHARON WOOD WORTMAN and ED WORTMAN
BY SHARON WOOD WORTMAN and ED WORTMAN
|
Studying Portland's bridges has been a part of the Portland Public School third grade social studies curriculum since the 1950's, and in classrooms around the region, the study of our local bridges is used to teach reading, writing, research skills, public presentation, science, math, estimation and engineering.
But in 128 years of bridge building across the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the Portland-Vancouver area, there has never a book for both adults and children on the subject until the 2014 publication of The Big and Awesome Bridges of Portland and Vancouver, sponsored by the Portland nonprofit PDX Bridge Festival, Inc. in cooperation with Portland Public Schools. It is still, by far, the most comprehensive and up-to-date resource focusing on the 22 big river roadway and railroad bridges between Vancouver, Washington, and Oregon City. |
The book's authors, Sharon Wood Wortman and Ed Wortman--volunteers on the project who have written other books about bridges--worked with retired Portland Public School librarian Edith Fuller and a large team including teacher experts, graphic designers, math consultants, Spanish interpreters, financial supporters, and some 150 poets, artists, essayists, and photographers, of all ages. The result of this multi-layered community collaborative effort, which spanned five years from proposal to publication, is a regional resource built to last as long as a steel bridge.
Designed to be both beautiful and sturdy, and weighing in at three pounds, Big & Awesome is bound with a hard cover and with a specially reinforced spine. All 240 pages are printed full color on 100# paper, and filled with bridge profiles and elevation drawings; a bridge building guide and load testing curriculum; interviews with ironworkers, bridge operators, and engineers, among others; artwork, and poetry, and other riveting stuff. To all friends, explorers, and celebrators of bridges: this is the book for you!
But in March 2021 the last ever print order for Big & Awesome and Sharon Wood Wortman's unparalleled The Portland Bridge Book (3rd ed.) was delivered to Powell's Books' warehouse. Once these are gone, it will be the first time in more than three decades (since 1989) that Powell's will not be carrying new copies of one edition or another of The Portland Bridge Book, and the first time in seven years (since 2014) that Powell's will not be carrying new copies of Big & Awesome.
However, the book is now widely available in a new ePub version! Read on for more details....
Designed to be both beautiful and sturdy, and weighing in at three pounds, Big & Awesome is bound with a hard cover and with a specially reinforced spine. All 240 pages are printed full color on 100# paper, and filled with bridge profiles and elevation drawings; a bridge building guide and load testing curriculum; interviews with ironworkers, bridge operators, and engineers, among others; artwork, and poetry, and other riveting stuff. To all friends, explorers, and celebrators of bridges: this is the book for you!
But in March 2021 the last ever print order for Big & Awesome and Sharon Wood Wortman's unparalleled The Portland Bridge Book (3rd ed.) was delivered to Powell's Books' warehouse. Once these are gone, it will be the first time in more than three decades (since 1989) that Powell's will not be carrying new copies of one edition or another of The Portland Bridge Book, and the first time in seven years (since 2014) that Powell's will not be carrying new copies of Big & Awesome.
However, the book is now widely available in a new ePub version! Read on for more details....
THe BIG & AWESOME BRIDGES OF PORTLAND & VANCOUVER EBOOK
BY SHARON WOOD WORTMAN AND ED WORTMAN
BY SHARON WOOD WORTMAN AND ED WORTMAN
The Big & Awesome Bridges of Portland & Vancouver is now widely available as an ebook! The general public can find it at Kobo and Amazon, and it's also available for purchase by schools and libraries through OverDrive. Those who prefer supporting a locally operated brick-and-mortar bookstore can find the ebook at the woman-owned and operated Broadway Books. The price for the ePub Big & Awesome is the same across the board: $9.99 a unit. Patrons of the Multnomah, Clackamas, and Washington county library systems can even borrow the book from those collections!
The ebook will be kept up-to-date on the latest bridge developments. For example, there have been six new footbridges added to the Greater Portland Area skyline since 2014 and the publication of the print version of Big & Awesome. All six footbridges, constructed at a cost of $60 million, are soon to be included in the ePub version of Big & Awesome-- with descriptions, drawings, photographs, and a map pinpointing location. For now, they can also be found on author Sharon Wood Wortman's website.
The ebook will be kept up-to-date on the latest bridge developments. For example, there have been six new footbridges added to the Greater Portland Area skyline since 2014 and the publication of the print version of Big & Awesome. All six footbridges, constructed at a cost of $60 million, are soon to be included in the ePub version of Big & Awesome-- with descriptions, drawings, photographs, and a map pinpointing location. For now, they can also be found on author Sharon Wood Wortman's website.
TILIKUM CROSSING, BRIDGE OF THE PEOPLE: PORTLAND's BRIDGES AND A NEW ICON
BY Donald MacDonald and Ira Nadel
BY Donald MacDonald and Ira Nadel
|
This approachable book offers a deep dive into one of the newest spans over the Willamette River and on the Portland skyline: Tilikum Crossing, which opened September 2015. Co-authored by the bridge's award-winning architect and brimming with 98 of his own color illustrations, and published by Portland's own independent book publishing company, Overcup Press, it is a must-read for those inspired by this history-making, trend-setting bridge!
|
BRIDGE CONVERSATION
A VARIETY OF BRIDGE-RELATED CONVERSATION STARTERS
CLICK EACH TOPIC FOR MORE INFO
CLICK EACH TOPIC FOR MORE INFO
BRIDGE FACTS....
DID YOU RECENTLY LEARN SOMETHING AMAZING ABOUT BRIDGES, OR DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE BRIDGE FACT THAT YOU'RE EXCITED TO SHARE? CLICK HERE TO WEIGH IN!
BRIDGE FAVORITES....
DO YOU HAVE A FAVORITE BRIDGE? IF SO, WHICH BRIDGE IS IT? WHAT ABOUT THAT BRIDGE MAKES IT YOUR FAVORITE ONE? CLICK HERE TO WEIGH IN!
BRIDGE NEWS....
DID YOU RECENTLY HEAR ABOUT A BRIDGE IN THE NEWS? CLICK HERE TO WEIGH IN!
BRIDGE BIRTHDAYS....
DO YOU SHARE A BIRTHDAY WITH A BRIDGE? IF SO, WHICH ONE? ARE YOU OLDER THAN THE BRIDGE, OR IS THE BRIDGE OLDER THAN YOU-- AND BY HOW MANY YEARS? CLICK HERE TO WEIGH IN!
BRIDGE ART....
DO YOU HAVE PHOTOS OF BRIDGE ART, OR BRIDGE MODELS YOU'VE MADE? CLICK HERE TO SHARE!
BRIDGE QUESTIONS....
DO YOU HAVE A QUESTION ABOUT BRIDGES INSPIRED BY THE BRIDGE TOUR OR YOUR BRIDGE STUDIES? CLICK HERE TO ASK BRIDGE TOUR GUIDE NATHAN HOOVER!
CHECK OUT THESE RELEVANT LINKS!
Beginning as early as 2025, the present-day Burnside Bridge will be demolished and replaced with a new span capable of surviving a 9.0 magnitude earthquake. Learn where the project currently stands and participate during periodic public comment phases at this designated website for a new, earthquake ready Burnside.
Multnomah County owns, operates, and maintains six river crossings in Portland. From north to south they are: the Sauvie Island Bridge, the Broadway Bridge, the Burnside Bridge, the Morrison Bridge, the Hawthorne Bridge, and the Sellwood Bridge. Their website features facts about the Multnomah County bridges as well as recent news and updates about those bridges.
The folks at ODOT help to keep traffic in the state of Oregon mobile over the bridges and freeways. ODOT is also responsible for the maintenance of several bridges in Portland, including the St. Johns Bridge, the Fremont Bridge, the Marquam Bridge, and the Ross Island Bridge.
This website, operated by ODOT, gives current information about traffic conditions on Oregon roadways and bridges. It also provides public access to the roughly 200 cameras that ODOT uses to monitor and respond to traffic problems. Some of ODOT's camera views include Portland bridges, and a few cameras show the view from a Portland bridge.
PDX Bridge Festival is a non-profit organization dedicated to raising public awareness and fostering appreciation for the Willamette River Bridges through educational, artistic, cultural, and historic programming.
CURRENT PAGE: RESOURCES
This website designed by Nathan Hoover.
PDX Bridge Tours and all site content, except where otherwise specified, copyright Nathan Hoover © 2021
Click here to learn more about the images on this site.
PDX Bridge Tours and all site content, except where otherwise specified, copyright Nathan Hoover © 2021
Click here to learn more about the images on this site.