June 7, 2021

Earlier this year, The Oregon Department of Transportation imposed a lowered load rating on the Hood River – White Salmon Bridge after the Federal Highway Administration directed all State transportation departments to evaluate structural capacity on all bridges. Last rated in 2003, the Hood River – White Salmon Bridge was reevaluated by ODOT engineers. Port staff reached out to local commodity and shipping firms in April 2020 to better understand impacts of load changes on businesses (primarily representing fruit, timber, and sand/gravel sectors) and received input from numerous local businesses. On February 3rd of this year, ODOT formally requested new signage listing the lower load rating for the bridge effective March 3rd.