The Cedar Crossing Bridge is the first and only covered bridge in Multnomah County, Oregon. It was built in 1981 over Johnson Creek after community advocate Lea Wikman lobbied for its construction. The 66 foot long bridge has 10 windows, knotty pine interior, and a daily traffic volume of 1476 vehicles. It remains in good condition today and serves as a historic landmark in the area.

1. One Dry S
Cedar Crossing Bridge
First and Only Covered Bridge in Multnomah County,
Oregon
Bridges are perhaps the most invisible form
of public architecture.

2. An Historical Memorial
A Daily Reminder

3. Bridges become frames
for looking at the
world around us.
Lea Wikman, lobbied Don Clark, Multnomah County
Executive, for the county to build a covered span.
He agreed and suggested that the bridge "be
over a stream where the foliage is thick and turns
to shades of yellow and orange in the autumn and
children can peer out windows to see the waters
below."

4. Original Deardorf
Bridge

5. OTAK Proposed
Design

6. Specifications
Length 66 feet
Roadway 24 feet
Walkway 5 feet
Siding Board & Batten
Vertical clearance 14
feet
World Guide # 37 -
26- B

7. Interior Detail
10 Gothic style windows to provide light and ventilation
Interior finish knotty pine

8. CONSTRUCTION
COSTS
Road/abutment costs $74,800
New Bridge costs
$93,450
TOTAL :
$168,250

9. Contract Awarded to :
Project Time Line :
November 1981 Demolish existing bridge;
November/December 1981 Replace bridge;
January 1982 GRAND OPENING !!!

10. Dedication Day

12. Historical Marker
• This covered bridge, the first ever built in Multnomah
County, was dedicated January 16, 1982, by County
Executive Donald E. Clark and Lea Wikman,
chairwomen of Powellhurst Community Planning
Group, as a nostalgic tribute to ingenious frontiersmen
who built such structures throughout western Oregon in
the 19th and 20th centuries.
• The bridge was named by Ginell Lamont in a contest
among David Douglas School students.
• The creek below is named for William Johnson who
built a sawmill in Lents in the 1850’s. The road
commemorates WA Deardorf, who petitioned the
County to build the original road in 1898.

13. Lea Wikman, head of the Community
Covered Bridge Committee….assisted
in the ceremony.

15. Rest in Peace May
1982
May

16. Todays Bridge
2010 National Bridge Report
Daily traffic 1476 (2% trucks)
Deck satisfactory condition
Substructure good condition
Superstructure very good condition

17. Credits
• Photos:
Steve Turner, Western Wood
Products; Tim McCann,
Lea Wikman Archive;
The Oregonian, Randy
Wood;
• Sources:
The Bridge Lady, Sharon
Wood-Wortman; The
Oregonian;
Wikman Family Archives;
• Produced by:
Wikman Multi-Media