The article regarding the much appreciated and competent service of the Columbia River Pilots is both enlightening and alarming (“River pilots keep ships rolling on the Columbia,” The Columbian, April 26). While the Astoria-Megler Bridge at Astoria does have some protective fenders for its support piers, we do not know just how effective they might be.
However, the Lewis and Clark Bridge at Longview, some 36 years older, has no pier protection. Furthermore, the active shipping channel under the Lewis and Clark Bridge, according to this article, is closer to one pier than to the other, adding to the risk of collision by an ocean-going vessel.
Both of these bridges are cantilever design, somewhat different from the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore that recently collapsed due to a ship’s collision with one of its piers. Recently, two of the largest container ships, each more than 1,000 feet in length, to call on the Port of Portland have transited under these bridges. If either were to be hit and collapse, are our local economies able to deal with the time required to design and build new ones, not to mention the possible loss of lives and related damages that would occur?
