Deadwood Covered Bridge

Originally called the Alpha Bridge, after one of Oregon’s bajillion Ghost towns, the Deadwood Bridge was built in 1932. The town of Alpha is about 2 to 2.5 miles north east of it.

Like most of the Lane County bridges, it’s built with the Howe Truss system. The lower chords are 16″x16″x113 foot members. It originally cost $4814 to build.

I’m not sure when the bridge became formerly named Deadwood, but it seemed to still have both names in 1965. By 1978 it was just Deadwood. That name comes from Deadwood Creek, named after the number timber snags in the area.

Interestingly, every vintage photo (that I’ve seen) of this bridge shows damage to the portals from log trucks crossing over it. The bridge was bypassed in the late 70s by a straightening of the highway a heavy duty concrete bridge over Deadwood Creek. Modern photos show the portals to be in fine shape.