Oregon Officials Choose Concrete over Steel for Bridge

Concrete's lower maintenance costs has apparently won over officials in an Oregon community. A proposed third bridge across the Willamette River in Salem would likely be made of concrete rather than steel arches or steel girders. After narrowing the list of potential bridge designs, the Salem River Crossing Oversight Team on Thursday made a final selection. The group chose a design known as "segmental precast concrete box." The bridge design uses concrete sections that would be cast off-site, trucked to the construction area and then installed. The design would be more expensive to build than than a steel girder bridge — the lowest cost option — but the oversight team said concrete would require less maintenance than steel.