Structure
The Goodpasture Bridge was designed by the Oregon State Highway Department (now the Oregon Department of Transportation) and was built by Lane County. A.C. Striker was the county bridge superintendent at the time of its construction. It was built to allow local families and commercial logging trucks to cross the McKenzie River.
The Goodpasture Bridge is a classic covered bridge in design. The deck is 17.7 feet (5.4 m) wide with vertical clearance of 15.3 feet (4.7 m). The bridge's two foundation tiers are concrete. Its wooden floor planks and shingled roof are intact, as is the weatherboard housing that protects the Howe truss infrastructure from the weather.
Most of Oregon's covered bridges, including the Goodpasture Bridge, were built using the Howe truss system, developed in 1840 by the Massachusetts architect William Howe. The system uses heavy timbers reinforced with iron or steel rods. The trusses have central beams and crossed timbers with adjustable, vertical iron rods to support the structural load.
The Goodpasture Bridge is one of the most photographed bridges in the state of Oregon. The bridge's architectural detailing includes false end beams, semi-elliptical portals, and ten Gothic style louvered windows on each side. The windows were built to allow light into the long covered structure so drivers could see oncoming traffic. During the Christmas season, the bridge is hung with decorations, attracting many winter visitors.
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—Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977)
“The structure was designed by an old sea captain who believed that the world would end in a flood. He built a home in the traditional shape of the Ark, inverted, with the roof forming the hull of the proposed vessel. The builder expected that the deluge would cause the house to topple and then reverse itself, floating away on its roof until it should land on some new Ararat.”
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