The Bailey Road Bridge after it was closed but before being torn down. I can’t recall the exact year this was torn down but I know it was operational in the 80’s as I remember flying over the bridge on my bike. Do you have any memories of the Bailey Road Bridge?
I started working for Falls Hardware after high school in June of 68 and didn’t have much work experience. Late one afternoon the ODOT garage on Bailey Road (now owned by the city) called and ordered two eight foot florescent bulbs. Owner Howard McClain told me to deliver them. The store’s pickup had a metal rack along the sides of the bed about 5’ high. Not wanting to break the tubes I securely tied them vertically to the rack. I chose to go across the river by that bridge. I started down from Front Street and suddenly I heard glass shattering as I drove under the railroad bridge. The clearance under that bridge was 9’3” and the ends of the tubes being vertical in the truck bed we’re probably 10’ in the air. I sheepishly returned to the store for more tubes and figured that would be the end of my employment. I didn’t get fired and all that came from Howard was a chuckle.
Great story. Glad you didn’t get fired!
my dad used to speed down the road to ‘the dippy’ bridge on our way to have a picnic breakfast at water works park, and we would all put up our hands going over that dip in the road. also used to raft the river at the gorge, using the penstock pipe as our portage back up to the dam where we jumped in again and again- right at ‘whirlpools’.. fun times