As I biked to work today, I thought back to my earlier post on the Burnside Bridge repair. That got me thinking: what other bridges are structurally deficient in the Portland metro area? By structurally deficient I mean, of course, liable to collapse in the same manner the Minnesota bridge did (but probably won't). People have been over this before, but I haven't taken a peek at it and so I thought it would be instructive to glance it over.

Lucky for us, the Oregonian has prepared a map: click here for that map.

A quick overview of our metro area indicates that there are two major hazards we all know and love: the Sellwood Bridge (~32,000 car trips per day; cost to repair $11 million) and that portion of the 99E going North just after the Ross Island Bridge (~35,000 car trips per day; cost to repair ~$18 million).

Sure, there are more areas both on-and-off the beaten trail, but my eyes are immediately drawn to those two because of the number of car trips, cost to repair, proximity to the river, and the fact that I traveled them frequently while a student at Reed.

Are there any other locations that give you pause for concern?

This is just a quick-hit. I'll comment on the comings-and-goings soon. I especially want to talk about the Secretary of State race here in Oregon, which just picked up a fourth Democratic challenger. We'll work to unravel that cord.