Oregon has a complicated relationship with its neighbors. Portlanders look at Seattle sideways and at California with open suspicion. We also rely on both of them for trade, tourism and a good share of our traffic. So, it’s complicated.
At Astoria, the Columbia River draws Oregon’s northern border about four miles wide and pushes something like 265,000 cubic feet of water out to sea every second. A bathtub faucet manages about .01. Spanning all of that is the Astoria-Megler Bridge, 4.1 miles long and the longest continuous truss bridge in North America. It was built to take 150 mph gusts, which is good, because it sits 14 miles from the ocean and gets plenty of weather.
It’s a very Oregon way to deal with the neighbors. Build something huge and sturdy, and make sure it can handle a lot of wind.
