The Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge, also known as the Rogue River Bridge and the Isaac Lee Patterson Memorial Bridge, is a concrete arch bridge that spans the Rogue River

Rogue River (Oregon)

The Rogue River in southwestern Oregon in the United States flows about in a generally westward direction from the Cascade Range to the Pacific Ocean. Known for its salmon runs, whitewater rafting, and rugged scenery, it was one of the original eight rivers named in the Wild and Scenic Rivers Act...

 in Curry County, Oregon

Curry County, Oregon

Curry County is a county located in the U.S. state of Oregon. In 2010, its population was 22,364. The county is named for George Law Curry, a governor of the Oregon Territory. The seat of the county is Gold Beach.-Economy:...

. The bridge carries U.S. Route 101 across the river, near the point where the river empties into the Pacific Ocean

Pacific Ocean

The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...

, and connects the towns of Gold Beach

Gold Beach, Oregon

Gold Beach is a city in and the county seat of Curry County, Oregon, United States, on the Oregon Coast. The population was 1,897 at the 2000 census.-History:...

 and Wedderburn

Wedderburn, Oregon

Wedderburn is an unincorporated coastal community in Curry County, Oregon, United States. It is located across the mouth of Rogue River from Gold Beach, on U.S. Route 101. The Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge connects Wedderburn with Gold Beach....

.

The bridge is 578.5 m (1,898 ft) long and consists of seven 70 m (230 ft) spans. It was dedicated on May 28, 1932 and named after Isaac Lee Patterson

I. L. Patterson

Isaac Lee "Ike" Patterson, was the 18th Governor of Oregon from 1927 to 1929. An Oregon native, he served in the Oregon Legislative Assembly from 1918 to 1922, and was a farmer in the Willamette Valley.-Early life:...

, the governor of Oregon from 1927 to 1929.

A bridge with strong Art Deco influences, the Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge is a prominent example of the designs of the Oregon bridge designer and highway engineer Conde McCullough

Conde McCullough

Conde Balcom McCullough was a U.S. bridge engineer who is primarily known for designing many of Oregon's coastal bridges on U.S. Route 101. The native of South Dakota worked for the Oregon Department of Transportation from 1919 to 1935 and 1937 until 1946...

. It was designated a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark by the American Society of Civil Engineers

American Society of Civil Engineers

The American Society of Civil Engineers is a professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. It is the oldest national engineering society in the United States. ASCE's vision is to have engineers positioned as global leaders who strive toward...

 in 1982.

McCullough employed a new method of concrete arch construction named the Freyssinet method, named after the French bridge engineer Eugene Freyssinet

Eugène Freyssinet

Eugène Freyssinet was a French structural and civil engineer. He was the major pioneer of prestressed concrete.Freyssinet was born in at Objat, Corrèze, France. He worked in the École Nationale des Ponts et Chaussées in Paris, France where he designed several bridges until the First World War...

. This method uses precompressed arches which pemitted the use of smaller arch ribs, thereby reducing the weight and cost of the bridge. McCullough's design was the first usage of this technique in the United States.