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104-480: A project to replace the bridge is underway and is scheduled to be completed in 2026. On January 26, 2024, ODOT announced the bridge had been removed. About 1860 a ferry started crossing the Willamette River at Corvallis. Benton County legislators were able to secure approval to build a bridge at the site as early as 1889. Meanwhile, the county bought the ferry in 1902 and removed the crossing fee. Plans for

208-562: A flood in 1861 . This and many other large flows preceded the Flood Control Act of 1936 and dam construction on the Willamette's major tributaries. The river below Willamette Falls, 26.5 miles (42.6 km) from the mouth, is affected by semidiurnal tides , and gauges have detected reverse flows (backwards river flows) below Ross Island at RM 15 (RK 24). The National Weather Service issues tide forecasts for

312-441: A quorum . Oregon Ballot Measure 113 was passed in 2022 to disqualify senators with ten unexcused absences from serving in the legislature following their current term, largely in response to a series of walkouts by Republican senators. In the interim between legislative sessions, special study groups made up of state legislators with interests or expertise in the specific study areas investigate issues that will be addressed during

416-555: A 18.5-foot (5.6 m) roadway. Oregon Legislative Assembly The Oregon Legislative Assembly is the state legislature for the U.S. state of Oregon . The Legislative Assembly is bicameral , consisting of an upper and lower house : the Senate , whose 30 members are elected to serve four-year terms; and the House of Representatives , with 60 members elected to two-year terms. There are no term limits for either house in

520-553: A bridge parallel to the existing bridge and the other building a curved bridge between the old span and the Harrison Street Bridge . The existing structure would have remained in-place under both options, and costs were estimated at $ 18 million. If a new bridge were built, the state originally said they would no longer own and maintain the old bridge, which was proposed to be used for pedestrians and bicycles. Linn County's Board of Commissioners supported tearing down

624-399: A constitutional amendment allowing the legislature to call itself into session. In either case, special sessions are permitted only "in the event of an emergency." Voters narrowly defeated a constitutional amendment in 1990 that would have established annual sessions. In 1982 a special session lasted 37 days, and the governor called the assembly into special session five times in 2002, for

728-406: A new bridge near the existing span. Both options included adding a northern bypass that would connect to U.S. Route 20 and Oregon 99W. As of 2015 the plans for a new bridge had been set aside, with improvements to the south bypass and downtown exits for OR 34, OR 20, and 99 W intended to ease congestion instead. The future northern bypass is considered by planners to be a long-term goal, as there

832-470: A plan to improve fish passage and take other actions to help native fish recover in 2008. Since then, work has proceeded slowly, and the Corps of Engineers, citing engineering difficulties and cost, may not meet the original agreed-upon deadline of 2023 for a system of effective remedies. Other major dams in the Willamette watershed are owned by other interests; for example, several hydroelectric facilities on

936-404: A power plant. The locks at Willamette Falls were completed in 1873. Elsewhere on the main stem, numerous minor flow-regulation structures force the river into a narrower and deeper channel to facilitate navigation and flood control . The dams on the Willamette's major tributaries are primarily large flood-control, water-storage, and power-generating dams. Thirteen of these dams were built from

1040-523: A system of parks, trails, and wildlife refuges along the river. In 1998, the Willamette became one of 14 rivers designated an American Heritage River by U.S. President Bill Clinton . By 2007 the Greenway had grown to include more than 170 separate land parcels, including 10 state parks. Public uses of the river and land along its shores include camping, swimming, fishing, boating, hiking, bicycling, and wildlife viewing. In 2008, government agencies and

1144-467: A temporary lake, Lake Allison , that stretched from Lake Oswego to near Eugene. The ancestral Tualatin Valley, part of the Willamette basin, flooded as well; water depths ranged from 200 feet (61 m) at Lake Oswego to 100 feet (30 m) as far upstream (west) as Forest Grove . Flood deposits of silt and clay, ranging in thickness from 115 feet (35 m) in the north to about 15 feet (4.6 m) in

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1248-456: A total of 52 days. The 2006 special session was the shortest in Oregon's history: five pieces of legislation were passed in only six hours. The legislative body may also call itself into special session "in the event of an emergency," although it has never done so. The legislature's regular sessions were every two years until 2009. The legislative session in 2010 that referred Measure 71 to voters

1352-669: Is 187 miles (301 km) long, lying entirely in northwestern Oregon in the United States. Flowing northward between the Oregon Coast Range and the Cascade Range , the river and its tributaries form the Willamette Valley , a basin that contains two-thirds of Oregon's population, including the state capital, Salem , and the state's largest city, Portland , which surrounds the Willamette's mouth at

1456-400: Is Portland, with more than 500,000 residents. Not all of these cities draw water in part or exclusively from the Willamette for their municipal water supply. Other cities in the watershed (but not on the main-stem river) with populations of 20,000 or more are Gresham, Hillsboro, Beaverton, Tigard, McMinnville, Tualatin, Woodburn , and Forest Grove. Sixty-four percent of the watershed

1560-664: Is compensated accordingly. Legislators are paid $ 33,852 per year. Presiding officers (the Speaker of the House and Senate President) are compensated double, $ 67,704 per year. While in session, legislators also receive a $ 151 per diem. In the 2022 Regular Session, at the request of the Asian Pacific American Network of Oregon (APANO) and Family Forward Oregon, a SB1566 was introduced to increase legislators pay. SB 1566 establishes an annual salary for members of

1664-512: Is from Albany to Oregon City. At Willamette Falls , between West Linn and Oregon City, the river plunges about 40 feet (12 m). For the rest of its course, the river is extremely low-gradient and is affected by Pacific Ocean tidal effects from the Columbia. The main stem of the Willamette varies in width from about 330 to 660 feet (100 to 200 m). With an average flow at the mouth of about 37,400 cubic feet per second (1,060 m /s),

1768-520: Is no schedule and none of the estimated $ 250 million cost has been budgeted. In 2017, plans to replace the bridge resumed with the passage of House Bill 2017. Construction began in May 2023 and the replacement bridge is scheduled to be completed in 2026. The bridge was the first bridge across the Willamette River at Corvallis. Carrying one lane of traffic eastbound, it connected Benton County on

1872-582: Is of indigenous origin, deriving from the French pronunciation of the name of a Clackamas Native American village. However, Native American languages in Oregon were very similar, so the name may also be derived from Kalapuya dialects. Around the year 1850, the Kalapuya numbered between 2,000 and 3,000 and were distributed among several groups. These figures are only speculative; there may have been as few as eight subgroups or as many as 16. In that time period,

1976-577: Is privately owned, while 36 percent is publicly owned. The U.S. Forest Service manages 30 percent of the watershed, the U.S. Bureau of Land Management 5 percent, and the State of Oregon 1 percent. Sixty-eight percent of the watershed is forested; agriculture, concentrated in the Willamette Valley, makes up 19 percent, and urban areas cover 5 percent. More than 81,000 miles (130,000 km) of roads criss-cross

2080-819: The Clackamas River are owned by Portland General Electric . These include the River Mill Hydroelectric Project , the Oak Grove project, and the dam at Timothy Lake . The 50 or so crossings of the Willamette River include many historic structures, such as the Van Buren Street Bridge , a swing bridge . Built in 1913, it carries Oregon Route 34 (Corvallis–Lebanon Highway) over the river upstream of RM 131 (RK 211) in Corvallis. The machinery to operate

2184-570: The Coast Fork Willamette River , and Dorena on the Row River . Due to these tall dams, Chinook salmon and steelhead are blocked from roughly half of their historic habitat and spawning grounds on the Willamette's major tributaries. Unable to live and reproduce as they once did, they have been "brought to the brink of extinction". Endangered species listings and a subsequent lawsuit by Willamette Riverkeeper led to

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2288-612: The Farallon Plate beneath the North American Plate , creating the forearc basin that would later become the Willamette Valley. The valley was initially part of the continental shelf , rather than a separate inland sea. Many layers of marine deposits formed in the forearc basin and cover the older Siletz River Volcanics. About 20 to 16 million years ago, uplift formed the Coast Range and separated

2392-642: The Missoula Floods —a series of large outpourings originating at Glacial Lake Missoula in Montana—swept down the Columbia River and backfilled the Willamette watershed. Each flood produced "discharges that exceeded the annual discharge of all the present-day rivers of the world combined". Filling the Willamette basin to depths of 400 feet (120 m) in the Portland region, each flood created

2496-678: The Oregon State Capitol in Salem. Evidence suggests that massive quakes of 8 or more on the Richter scale have occurred historically in the Cascadia subduction zone off the Oregon coast, most recently in 1700 CE , and that others as strong as 9 on the Richter scale occur every 500 to 800 years. The basin's high population density, its nearness to this subduction zone, and its loose soils, which tend to amplify shaking, make

2600-687: The Sandy River did the explorers learn about their oversight. William Clark returned down the Columbia and entered the Willamette River in April 1806. Fur trappers originally working for the Pacific Fur Company (PFC)) and subsequently for the North West Company (NWC) were next to visit the Willamette River and various tributaries. The Siskiyou Trail (or California-Oregon Trail) originally developed by Indigenous people,

2704-857: The Siletz , the Nestucca , the Trask , and the Wilson to the west; the Nehalem and the Clatskanie to the northwest, and the Columbia River to the north. About 2.5 million people lived in the Willamette River basin as of 2010, about 65 percent of the population of Oregon. As of 2009, the basin contained 20 of the 25 most populous cities in Oregon. These cities include Springfield, Eugene, Corvallis, Albany, Salem, Keizer, Newberg, Oregon City, West Linn, Milwaukie, Lake Oswego, and Portland. The largest

2808-415: The U.S. federal government . The main channel, which is the primary navigational conduit for Portland's harbor and riverside industrial areas, is 40 feet (12 m) deep and varies in width from 600 to 1,900 feet (180 to 580 m), although the river broadens to 2,000 feet (610 m) in some of its lower reaches. This channel enters the Columbia about 101 miles (163 km) from the Columbia's mouth on

2912-669: The eastern United States , mainly the Upland South borderlands of Missouri, Iowa, and the Ohio Valley. Many of these emigrants followed the Oregon Trail , a 2,170-mile (3,490 km) trail across western North America that began at Independence, Missouri , and ended at various locations near the mouth of the Willamette River. Although people had been traveling to Oregon since 1836, large-scale migration did not begin until 1843, when nearly 1,000 pioneers headed westward. Over

3016-526: The main stem Willamette meanders generally north for 187 miles (301 km) to the Columbia River . The river's two most significant course deviations occur at Newberg , where it turns sharply east, and about 18 miles (29 km) downstream from Newberg, where it turns north again. Near its mouth north of downtown Portland , the river splits into two channels that flow around Sauvie Island . Used for navigation purposes, these channels are managed by

3120-606: The 1940s through the 1960s and are operated by the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). Of those 13, 9 produce hydropower. Flood-control dams operated by the USACE are estimated to hold up to 27 percent of the Willamette's runoff. They are used to regulate river flows so as to cut peaks off floods and increase low flows in late summer and autumn, and to divert water into deeper, narrower channels to prevent flooding. A relatively small of amount of

3224-453: The 1960s, Oregon Governor Tom McCall led a push for stronger pollution controls on the Willamette. In this, he was encouraged by Robert (Bob) Straub —the state treasurer and future Oregon governor (1975)—who first proposed a Willamette Greenway program during his 1966 gubernatorial campaign against McCall. The Oregon State Legislature established the program in 1967. Through it, state and local governments cooperated in creating or improving

Van Buren Street Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue

3328-459: The 2011 session. The first 35 regular sessions (i.e. until 1929) lasted 50 days or less. Since 1949 no annual session was shorter than 100 days. The longest session was the 72nd regular session, at 227 days, ending August 27, 2003. More recent sessions ended in June or July. The Governor of Oregon was the only person who could call the assembly into special sessions until 1976, when voters approved

3432-825: The Cascade Range to 10 feet (3.0 m) at the mouth on the Columbia River. Watersheds bordering the Willamette River basin are those of the Little Deschutes River to the southeast, the Deschutes River to the east, and the Sandy River to the northeast; the North Umpqua and Umpqua rivers to the south; coastal rivers including (from south to north) the Siuslaw , the Alsea , the Yaquina ,

3536-472: The City of Portland and the State of Oregon to dramatically reduce combined sewer overflows (CSOs) led to Portland's Big Pipe Project . The project, part of a related series of Portland CSO projects completed in late 2011 at a cost of $ 1.44 billion, separates the city's sanitary sewer lines from storm-water inputs that sometimes overwhelmed the combined system during heavy rains. When that occurred, some of

3640-603: The Clackamas' tribal population was roughly 1,800. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the Chinook population was nearly 5,000, though not all of the Chinook lived on the Willamette. The Chinook territory encompassed the lower Columbia River valley and significant stretches of the Pacific coast on both the north and the south side of the Columbia's mouth. At times, however, the Chinook territory extended even farther south in

3744-478: The Columbia River. Between the 1850s and the 1960s, channel-straightening and flood control projects, as well as agricultural and urban encroachment, cut the length of the river between the McKenzie River confluence and Harrisburg by 65 percent. Similarly, the river was shortened by 40 percent in the stretch between Harrisburg and Albany. Interstate 5 and three branches of Oregon Route 99 are

3848-554: The Columbia to Bachelor Island . Rockwell's survey was extremely detailed, including 17,782 hydrographic soundings. His work helped open the port of Portland to commerce. In the second half of the 19th century, the USACE dredged channels and built locks and levees in the Willamette's watershed. Although products such as lumber were often transported on an existing network of railroads in Oregon, these advances in navigation helped businesses deliver more goods to Portland, feeding

3952-422: The Columbia. Originally created by plate tectonics about 35 million years ago and subsequently altered by volcanism and erosion, the river's drainage basin was significantly modified by the Missoula Floods at the end of the most recent ice age . Humans began living in the watershed over 10,000 years ago. There were once many tribal villages along the lower river and in the area around its mouth on

4056-519: The Columbia. Indigenous peoples lived throughout the upper reaches of the basin as well. Rich with sediments deposited by flooding and fed by prolific rainfall on the western side of the Cascades, the Willamette Valley is one of the most fertile agricultural regions in North America, and it was thus the destination of many 19th-century pioneers traveling west along the Oregon Trail . The river

4160-798: The Eugene area, and several others are exclusively for rail traffic. There are also ferries that convey cars, trucks, motorcycles, bicycles, and pedestrians across the river for a fare and provided river conditions permit. They are the Buena Vista Ferry between Marion County and Polk County south of Independence and Salem, the Wheatland Ferry between Marion County and Polk County north of Salem and Keizer, and Canby Ferry in Clackamas County north of Canby. Since 1900, more than 15 large dams and many smaller ones have been built in

4264-788: The HBC merged with the NWC. In 1825 a new Fort Vancouver headquarters was built on the north shore of the Columbia closer to the Willamette, and Fort George was closed. Alexander Roderick McLeod traveled up the Willamette in 1826 and 1827, to the Umpqua and the Rogue rivers. In 1829 Lucier established a land claim near the Champoeg trading post and started to settle, soon joined by Gervais (1831), Pierre Belleque (1833) and 77 French Canadian settlers by 1836. By 1843, approximately 100 newcomer families lived in

Van Buren Street Bridge - Misplaced Pages Continue

4368-586: The Legislative Assembly equal to the annual occupational mean wage estimate for Oregon in the prior year, as determined by the U.S. Department of Labor and the Oregon Employment Department. And it directs the salary to be adjusted to conform to the mean only once every two years. It also authorizes a child care allowance for members who have children or dependents under the age of 13. Sen. Floyd Prozanski (D-Eugene) said at

4472-619: The Legislative Assembly. Each Senate district is composed of exactly two House districts: Senate District 1 contains House Districts 1 and 2, SD 2 contains HD 3 and HD 4, and so on. (Maps of Senate districts can be found in the Oregon State Senate article.) Senate districts contain about 127,700 people, and are redrawn every ten years. The legislature is termed as a "citizens' assembly" (meaning that most legislators have other jobs). Since 1885, its regular sessions of up to 160 days occurred in odd-numbered years, beginning on

4576-519: The Middle and Coast forks and the McKenzie , Long Tom , Marys , Calapooia , Santiam , Luckiamute , Yamhill , Molalla , Tualatin , and Clackamas rivers. Beginning at 438 feet (134 m) above sea level, the main stem descends 428 feet (130 m) between source and mouth, or about 2.3 feet per mile (0.4 m per km). The gradient is slightly steeper from the source to Albany than it

4680-486: The Native Americans. Upper-river tribes caught steelhead and salmon, often by building weirs across tributary streams. Tribes of the northern Willamette Valley practiced a generally settled lifestyle. The Chinooks lived in great wooden lodges , practiced slavery , and had a well-defined caste system. People of the south were more nomadic, traveling from place to place with the seasons. They were known for

4784-594: The November 2010 general election amended the state's constitution and changed the schedule of regular sessions from bi-annual to annual. Senate Joint Resolution 41 was voted on as state Ballot Measure 71 , which passed statewide by a margin of more than 2 to 1. With limited exceptions, the constitutional changes enacted through Measure 71 limit the length of legislative sessions beginning in odd-numbered years to 160 calendar days, and sessions beginning in even-numbered years to 35 calendar days. The changes took effect with

4888-634: The PFC. Free trappers Registre Bellaire, John Day and Alexander Carson hunted and traded furs during the winter of 1813-14 along the Willamette. About thirty NWC employees were stationed at the Champoeg post, now called the Willamette Trading Post , along with freemen housed in two huts and Kalapuya nearby. Nez Perce and Cayuse warned the NWC to stay out of the Willamette Valley hunting grounds. Skirmishes went on for several years over fishing and hunting grounds contended by several groups. By

4992-657: The Pacific Ocean. The smaller Multnomah Channel , a distributary , is 21 miles (34 km) long, about 600 feet (180 m) wide, and 40 feet (12 m) deep. It ends about 14.5 miles (23.3 km) farther downstream on the Columbia, near St. Helens in Columbia County . Proposals have been made for deepening the Multnomah Channel to 43 feet (13 m) in conjunction with roughly 103.5 miles (166.6 km) of tandem-maintained navigation on

5096-542: The Senate Rules Committee. In light of this, three veteran House Democrats jointly announced they would not seek reelection because of the apparent failure of SB1566. The three state representatives, Karin Power , Rachel Prusak and Anna Williams , said they could not afford to work full time for part-time pay. “We are a lawyer, nurse practitioner, and social worker,” the three said in a statement. “Seeing

5200-541: The Willamette Falls Locks have been inactive. As commerce and industry flourished on the lower river, most of the original settlers acquired farms in the upper Willamette Valley. By the late 1850s, farmers had begun to grow crops on most of the available fertile land. The settlers increasingly encroached on Native American lands. Skirmishes between natives and settlers in the Umpqua and Rogue valleys to

5304-437: The Willamette River was divided into two stretches: the 27-mile (43 km) lower stretch from Portland to Oregon City—which allowed connection with the rest of the Columbia River system—and the upper reach, which encompassed most of the Willamette's length. Any boats whose owners found it absolutely necessary to get past the falls had to be portaged . This led to competition for business among steam portage companies. In 1873,

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5408-472: The Willamette Valley especially vulnerable to damage from strong earthquakes. The Willamette River drains a region of 11,478 square miles (29,730 km ), which is 12 percent of the total area of Oregon. Bounded by the Coast Range to the west and the Cascade Range to the east, the river basin is about 180 miles (290 km) long and 100 miles (160 km) wide. Elevations within the watershed range from 10,495 feet (3,199 m) at Mount Jefferson in

5512-687: The Willamette Valley were further divided into groups including the Kalapuyan-speaking Yamhill and Atfalati (Tualatin) (both Northern Kalapuya), Central Kalapuya like the Santiam , Muddy Creek (Chemapho), Long Tom (Chelamela), Calapooia (Tsankupi), Marys River (Chepenafa) and Luckiamute, and the Yoncalla or Southern Kalapuya, as well other tribes such as the Chuchsney-Tufti, Siuslaw and Molala . The name Willamette

5616-435: The Willamette Valley. The total native population was estimated at 15,000. The indigenous peoples of the Willamette River practiced a variety of life ways. Those on the lower river, slightly closer to the coast, often relied on fishing as their primary economic mainstay. Salmon was the most important fish to Willamette River tribes as well as to the Native Americans of the Columbia River, where white traders traded fish with

5720-417: The Willamette Valley. These included the Kalapuya , the Chinook , and the Clackamas . The territory of the Clackamas encompassed the northeastern portion of the basin, including the Clackamas River (with which their name is shared). Although it is unclear exactly when, the territory of the Chinook once extended across the northern part of the watershed, through the Columbia River valley. Indigenous peoples of

5824-423: The Willamette basin. The highest flow recorded at this station was 420,000 cubic feet per second (11,893 m /s) on February 9, 1996, during the Willamette Valley Flood of 1996 , and the minimum was 4,200 cubic feet per second (120 m /s) on July 10, 1978. The highest recorded flow of 635,000 cubic feet per second (18,000 m /s) for the Willamette at a different gauge in Portland occurred during

5928-428: The Willamette ranks 19th in volume among rivers in the United States and contributes 12 to 15 percent of the total flow of the Columbia River. The Willamette's flow varies considerably season to season, averaging about 8,200 cubic feet per second (230 m /s) in August to more than 79,000 cubic feet per second (2,200 m /s) in December. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) operates five stream gauges along

6032-404: The Willamette's drainage basin, 13 of which are operated by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The dams are used primarily to produce hydroelectricity , to maintain reservoirs for recreation, and to prevent flooding. The river and its tributaries support 60 fish species, including many species of salmon and trout ; this is despite the dams, other alterations, and pollution (especially on

6136-399: The Willamette, continued on until the falls portage (present-day Oregon City ) and finished their journey at a flattening of both banks, the later site of Champoeg . A first trading post was established. By early 1813, William Wallace and John C. Halsey established a second outpost, Wallace House , farther south, north of present-day Salem. By the end of the War of 1812 , the NWC acquired

6240-418: The basalt with up to 1,000 feet (300 m) of silt in the Portland and Tualatin basins. During the Pleistocene , beginning roughly 2.5 million years ago, volcanic activity in the Cascades combined with a cool, moist climate to produce further heavy sedimentation across the basin, and braided rivers created alluvial fans spreading down from the east. Between about 15,500 and 13,000 years ago,

6344-416: The basin from the Pacific Ocean. Basalts of the Columbia River Basalt Group , from eruptions primarily in eastern Oregon , flowed across large parts of the northern half of the basin about 15 million years ago. They covered the Tualatin Mountains (West Hills), most of the Tualatin Valley , and the slopes of hills farther south, with up to 1,000 feet (300 m) of lava . Later deposits covered

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6448-400: The bridge across the river were created by Benton County in 1910, and in February 1911 the Oregon Legislature passed a bill that approved the plan to build the bridge. The county signed a contract with the Coast Bridge Company for the steel for a bridge in January 1912. Work began about June 1912 after a legal delay over funding was resolved, with Corvallis agreeing to pay a larger portion of

6552-410: The bridge in order to alleviate traffic problems in downtown Corvallis. Funding was never secured and the project was dropped in 1993, but the plans were revived in 2004. Plans included options to move the existing structure to a park, leave it in place, and build a new span that could be located in a variety of locations along the river in downtown. These options were narrowed to two in 2006, one adding

6656-421: The city's first officially recognized public swimming beach, Poet's Beach . There are more than 20 major dams on the Willamette's tributaries, as well as a complex series of levees and channels to control the river's flow. The only dam on the Willamette's main stem is the Willamette Falls Dam, a low weir -type structure at Willamette Falls that diverts water into the headraces of the adjacent mills and

6760-414: The city's growing economy. Trade goods from the Columbia basin north of Portland could also be transported southward on the Willamette due to the deeper channels made at the Willamette's mouth. By the early 20th century, major river-control projects had begun to take place. Levees were constructed along the river in most urban areas, and Portland built concrete walls to protect its downtown sector. In

6864-423: The construction of the Willamette Falls Locks bypassed the falls and allowed easy navigation between the upper and lower river. Each lock chamber measured 210 feet (64 m) long and 40 feet (12 m) wide, and the canal was originally operated manually before it switched to electrical power. Usage of the locks peaked in the 1940s, and by the early 21st century, the lock system was little used. Since 2011,

6968-471: The controlled burning of woodlands to create meadows for hunting and plant gathering (especially camas ). The Willamette River first appeared in written records in 1792, when it was observed by British Lieutenant William Robert Broughton of the Vancouver Expedition , led by George Vancouver . The 1805-1806 Lewis and Clark Expedition originally missed the mouth of the Willamette. On their return journey, only after receiving directions from natives along

7072-447: The following decades, many large dams were built on Cascade Range tributaries of the Willamette. The Army Corps of Engineers operates 13 such dams, which affect flows from about 40 percent of the basin. Most of them do not have fish ladders. With development in and near the river came increased pollution. By the late 1930s, efforts to stem the pollution led to formation of a state sanitary board to oversee modest cleanup efforts. In

7176-475: The founding of the town in 1829. McLoughlin attempted to persuade the HBC (which still held sway over the area) to allow American settlers to live on the land, and provided significant help to American colonization of the area, all against the HBC's orders. Oregon City prospered because of the lumber and grist mills that were run by the water power of Willamette Falls, but the falls formed an impassable barrier to river navigation. Linn City (originally Robins Nest)

7280-411: The government to a part of the Coast Reservation that later became the Grande Ronde Reservation . Between 1879 and 1885, the Willamette River was charted by Cleveland S. Rockwell , a topographical engineer and cartographer for the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey . Rockwell surveyed the lower Willamette from the foot of Ross Island through Portland to the Columbia River and then downstream on

7384-409: The hardships that families faced in our professional lives convinced us to run for office knowing these families deserved voices in our state government. Willamette River The Willamette River ( / w ɪ ˈ l æ m ɪ t / wil- AM -it ) is a major tributary of the Columbia River , accounting for 12 to 15 percent of the Columbia's flow. The Willamette's main stem

7488-521: The hearing that the low pay deters Oregonians from serving in the Legislature and urged the new salary be approved. He said the current pay serves to encourage only those with personal wealth or with multiple jobs to run for the legislature. Because of the high time commitment legislative positions require, the current salary also makes it financially difficult for some to stay in office once they’ve been elected. Ultimately, SB1566 did not make it out of

7592-657: The largest of these originally weighed about 160 short tons (150 t). The northern part of the watershed is underlain by a network of faults capable of producing earthquakes at any time, and many small quakes have been recorded in the basin since the mid-19th century. In 1993, the Scotts Mills earthquake —the largest recent earthquake in the valley, measuring 5.6 on the Richter scale —was centered near Scotts Mills , about 34 miles (55 km) south of Portland. It caused $ 30 million in damage, including harm to

7696-557: The largest portion from Benton County. The span was completed in February 1913, with a dedication ceremony on March 11 attended by the mayors of Corvallis and Philomath, as well as the judges for Linn and Benton counties. Built as a vehicle crossing, the Oregon Electric Railway had tracks leading to the east side of the bridge shortly after the bridge opened. The road across the span was originally two-way, plus there

7800-835: The largest water storage capacity, at 477,700 acre-feet (589,200,000 m ). The other 11 dams are Big Cliff on the North Santiam River; Green Peter and Foster on the Santiam River ; Cougar on the South Fork McKenzie River ; Blue River on the Blue River ; Fern Ridge on the Long Tom River ; Hills Creek and Dexter on the Middle Fork Willamette River; Fall Creek on Fall Creek ; Cottage Grove on

7904-664: The next 25 years, some 500,000 settlers traveled the Oregon Trail, to reach the Willamette Valley. Starting in the 1830s, Oregon City developed near Willamette Falls. It was incorporated in 1844, becoming the first city west of the Rocky Mountains to have that distinction. John McLoughlin , the Hudson's Bay Company (HBC) superintendent of the Columbia District , was one of the major contributors to

8008-532: The next legislative session. In addition, the state's legislative Emergency Board , which is jointly chaired by the President of the Senate and the Speaker of the House, can take action to provide additional funds to state agencies for activities required by law or that arise unexpectedly during the legislative interim. The job of a member of the Legislative Assembly is considered a "part-time" job in Oregon, and

8112-637: The non-profit Willamette Riverkeeper organization designated the full length of the river as the Willamette River Water Trail. Four years later, the National Park Service added the Willamette water trail—expanded to 217 miles (349 km) to include some of the major tributaries—to its list of National Water Trails . The water trail system is meant to protect and restore waterways in the United States and enhance recreation on and near them. A 1991 agreement between

8216-431: The old bridge and simply replace it with a new wider span. In June 2006, ODOT decided to keep the existing span in addition to the new bridge. Additional studies began in 2007 to determine which of the options for replacement would work best for fixing traffic issues across the river. Options now included adding a bypass north to connect with Oregon Route 99W . By May 2009, ODOT had two proposals, one of which would not build

8320-496: The project. In November 1912, Corvallis residents passed a bond measure to allow for the city's portion of funding of the bridge. This vote was the first time women were allowed to vote in a Corvallis election. Construction was completed by the Coast Bridge Company on the project that would cost $ 70,000 to build. Andrew J. Porter was the designer of the span. Funds came from the city, Linn County, private donations, and

8424-479: The raw sewage in the system flowed into the river instead of into the city's wastewater treatment plant. The Big Pipe project and related work reduces CSO volume on the lower river by about 94 percent. In June 2014, Dean Hall became the first person to swim the entire length of the Willamette River. He swam 184 miles (296 km) from Eugene to the river mouth in 25 days. In 2017, Human Access Project partnered with Portland Parks & Recreation to open

8528-540: The river at the Morrison Bridge . The Willamette River basin was created primarily by plate tectonics and volcanism and was altered by erosion and sedimentation, including deposits from enormous glacial floods as recent as 13,000 years ago. The oldest rocks beneath the Willamette Valley are the Siletz River Volcanics . About 35 million years ago, these rocks were subducted by

8632-579: The river's lower reaches). Part of the Willamette Floodplain was established as a National Natural Landmark in 1987, and the river was named as one of 14 American Heritage Rivers in 1998. The upper tributaries of the Willamette originate in the mountains south and southeast of Eugene, Oregon . Formed by the confluence of the Middle Fork Willamette River and the Coast Fork Willamette River near Springfield ,

8736-470: The river, at Harrisburg, Corvallis, Albany, Salem, and Portland. The average discharge at the lowermost gauge, near the Morrison Bridge in Portland, was 33,220 cubic feet per second (941 m /s) between 1972 and 2013. Located at river mile (RM) 12.8 or river kilometer (RK) 20.6, the gauge measures the flow from an area of 11,200 square miles (29,000 km ), roughly 97 percent of

8840-512: The second Monday in January. Effective 2012, the legislature moved into an annual session, with the even-numbered years having a "short session" of 35 days or less, beginning in February. Bills may be introduced in either house, and must flow through a committee before being voted upon. Bills calling for increased revenue must be introduced in the House of Representatives. How ideas become law . A legislative resolution referred to voters in

8944-443: The south, settled from this muddy water to form today's valley floor. The floods carried Montana icebergs well into the basin, where they melted and dropped glacial erratics onto the land surface. These rocks, composed of granite and other materials common to central Montana but not to the Willamette Valley, include more than 40 boulders, each at least 3 feet (0.9 m) in diameter. Before being partly chipped away and removed,

9048-583: The southwest of the Willamette River led the Oregon state government to remove the natives by military force. They were first led off their traditional lands to the Willamette Valley, but soon were marched to the Coast Indian Reservation . In 1855, Joel Palmer , an Oregon legislator, negotiated a treaty with the Willamette Valley tribes, who, although unhappy with the treaty, ceded their lands to non-natives. The natives were then relocated by

9152-478: The span in 150 revolutions, while the other completed the job in 50 revolutions. When opened it provided 102 feet (31 m) of clearance on either side of the bridge. Van Buren Street Bridge was the last movable-span truss bridge constructed by the pin connection method located on the West Coast . Pins were used to connect the trusses, but the technique was abandoned after rivets came into usage. The bridge

9256-634: The span opened for the final time in October 1960. In the 1980s the swivel became inoperable. The bridge was nominated for listing on the National Register of Historic Places about 2006. In March 2007, planned maintenance and re-painting began on the bridge, closing the bridge to traffic at times. The $ 2.5 million project was completed in October 2007. In the 1990s the Oregon Department of Transportation proposed options for replacing

9360-424: The swing span was removed in the 1950s. The Oregon City Bridge , built in 1922, replaced a suspension span constructed at the site in 1888. It carries Oregon Route 43 over the river at about RM 26 (RK 42) between Oregon City and West Linn . The Ross Island Bridge carries U.S. Route 26 ( Mount Hood Highway ) over the river at RM 14 (RK 23). It is one of 10 highway bridges crossing

9464-1065: The two major highways that follow the river for its entire length. Communities along the main stem include Springfield and Eugene in Lane County ; Harrisburg in Linn County ; Corvallis in Benton County ; Albany in Linn and Benton counties; Independence in Polk County ; Salem in Marion County ; Newberg in Yamhill County ; Oregon City , West Linn , Milwaukie , and Lake Oswego in Clackamas County ; and Portland in Multnomah and Washington counties. Significant tributaries from source to mouth include

9568-605: The vicinity of the Willamette on a section referred to as French Prairie . By 1841, members of the United States Exploring Expedition came through the Siskiyou Trail. They noted extensive salmon fishing by natives at Willamette Falls, much like that at Celilo Falls on the Columbia River. In the middle part of the 19th century the Willamette Valley's fertile soils, pleasant climate, and abundant water attracted thousands of settlers from

9672-483: The water stored in the reservoirs is used for irrigation . Cougar Dam on the South Fork McKenzie River and Detroit Dam on the North Santiam River are the two tallest dams in the Willamette River basin. Detroit Dam is 463 feet (141 m) high and stores 455,000 acre-feet (561,000,000 m ) of water. Lookout Point Dam on the Middle Fork Willamette River , forming Lookout Point Lake , has

9776-678: The watershed. In 1987, the U.S. Secretary of the Interior designated 713 acres (289 ha) of the watershed in Benton County as a National Natural Landmark . This area is the Willamette Floodplain , the largest remaining unplowed native grassland in the North Pacific geologic province, which encompasses most of the Pacific Northwest coast. For at least 10,000 years, a variety of indigenous peoples populated

9880-536: The west to Linn County on the east side of the Willamette. It carried Oregon Route 34 out of downtown Corvallis, with the Harrison Street Bridge to the north carrying OR 34 into downtown. The single lane created traffic problems at the evening rush hour with three lanes of the highway narrowing to one lane to cross the bridge. A swing bridge , its main 249-foot (76 m)-span could swivel on its axis and open to allow river traffic to pass. This

9984-402: The western end. The eastern approach was a Warren pony truss that measured 57 feet (17 m) in length. There was also a 19-foot (5.8 m) long part on the far west end built of timber, which was originally a 57-foot (17 m) long steel pony truss. The bridge had 15 feet (4.6 m) of vertical clearance and was 29 feet (8.8 m) wide, which included a 7-foot (2.1 m) sidewalk and

10088-439: The winter of 1818-19, Thomas McKay led a hunting brigade farther south towards the sources of the Willamette River and reached the upper Umpqua River . More violent skirmishes were fought. Most brigade members returned to Fort George (formerly called Fort Astoria ). Louis LaBonté, Joseph Gervais , Étienne Lucier , Louis Kanota, and Louis Pichette (dit DuPré) remained in the Willamette Valley as free trappers. Meanwhile, in 1821

10192-461: Was a sidewalk along the south side. On January 25, 1914, the span unexpectedly opened during a windstorm , and trapped a young man on the open swing span section until the bridge operators could row out to the center span and use the turn-key to put the span back into proper position. The state took over ownership of the span in 1938. In June 1952, the span was opened for the first time in 25 years to allow an Army Corps of Engineers vessel to pass, and

10296-487: Was a special session approved during the 2009 session by a majority of legislators, who were hoping to eventually win approval of a change to regular annual sessions. The push for annual sessions dates back to at least 1981, when a poll of legislators found that two-thirds favored a shift to annual sessions. The Constitution of Oregon requires 3/5s vote in both houses in order to pass new taxes or increase existing ones. In addition, two-thirds of senators are required to form

10400-406: Was accomplished by using a turn key placed into the turning bolt and rotating the bolt. Six people would rotate the key using a 17-foot (5.2 m) long wood rod that combined resemble a corkscrew . This would turn the 24-foot (7.3 m) wide gear that had 300 teeth along its circumference and the span would spin along 42 rollers constructed of steel. The operators could use two gears, one opened

10504-560: Was also one of only two swing style bridges left in Oregon used for vehicle traffic, and was the third oldest bridge across the Willamette after the Steel and Hawthorne bridges in Portland . Overall, the bridge was 708 feet (216 m) long and was composed of three separate steel spans that rested on concrete piers. The swing span was a Pratt through truss, and the next longest part a 171-foot (52 m) long Parker through truss span on

10608-415: Was an important transportation route in the 19th century, although Willamette Falls , just upstream from Portland, was a major barrier to boat traffic. In the 21st century, major highways follow the river, and roads cross the main stem on approximately 30 different bridges. More than half a dozen bridges not open to motorized vehicles provide separate crossings for bicycles and pedestrians, mostly in

10712-402: Was established across the Willamette from Oregon City. After Portland was incorporated in 1851, quickly growing into Oregon's largest city, Oregon City gradually lost its importance as the economic and political center of the Willamette Valley. Beginning in the 1850s, steamboats began to ply the Willamette, despite the fact that they could not pass Willamette Falls. As a result, navigation on

10816-545: Was used to reach farther south. This trail, over 600 miles (970 km) long, stretched from the mouth of the Willamette River near present-day Portland south through the Willamette Valley, crossing the Siskiyou Mountains , and south through the Sacramento Valley to San Francisco . In 1812, William Henry and Alfred Seton paddled up from Fort Astoria (PFC) on the Columbia River into the mouth of

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