Conde McCullough

Conde McCullough
Conde McCullough
	Conde B. McCullough
Born	May 30, 1887; Redfield, South Dakota, U.S.
Died	May 6, 1946 (aged 58); Salem, Oregon, U.S.
Nationality	American
Occupation	Engineer
	Engineering career
Projects	Crooked River High Bridge; Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge; Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge; Umpqua River Bridge; Siuslaw River Bridge; Original Alsea Bay Bridge; Cape Creek Bridge; Big Creek Bridge; Ten Mile Creek Bridge; Depoe Bay Bridge; Yaquina Bay Bridge

Conde Balcom McCullough (May 30, 1887 – May 6, 1946) was an American civil engineer who is primarily known for designing many of Oregon's coastal bridges on U.S. Route 101.^[1] The native of South Dakota worked for the Oregon Department of Transportation from 1919 to 1935 and 1937 until he died in 1946. McCullough also was a professor at Oregon State University.

Early life

Conde McCullough was born in Redfield, South Dakota, on May 30, 1887.^[2] In 1891, he and his family moved to Iowa where his father died in 1904.^[2] McCullough then worked at various jobs to support the family.^[2] In 1910, he graduated from Iowa State University with a civil engineering degree.^[3]

Career

McCullough began working for the Marsh Bridge Company in Des Moines, Iowa, where he remained for one year.^[2] He then went to work for the Iowa State Highway Commission.^[2] He moved to Oregon in 1916 and became an assistant professor of civil engineering at Oregon Agricultural College, and the sole structural engineering professor at the school.^[2] In 1919 he became the head of the Bridge Division of the Oregon Department of Transportation, making him personally responsible for the design of Oregon's bridges at a time when the state was completing Highway 101. His first bridge ODT was the bridge in the town called Rock Point 1919. Concrete pillars are still visible on both sides of the Rogue River.

His designs are well known for their architectural beauty.^[4] McCullough advocated that bridges be built economically, efficiently, and with beauty.^[1] He helped design over 600 bridges, many with architectural details such as Gothic spires, art deco obelisks, and Romanesque arches incorporated into the bridges.^[5] In 1928, he graduated from Willamette University College of Law and passed the bar the same year.^[6] In 1935 he moved to San José, Costa Rica to help design bridges on the Pan-American Highway. He returned to Oregon in 1937 to become the assistant state highway engineer.

Later life and legacy

In 1934 McCullough was granted an honorary doctorate from Oregon State University.^[6] He published The Engineer at Law with his son John McCullough who also was an attorney.^[6] McCullough died of a stroke at his home in Salem, Oregon on May 6, 1946.^[7] He was close to his 59th birthday. He was interred in the Mount Crest Abbey Mausoleum at City View Cemetery in Salem. His wife Marie was interred there after her death in 1954. Following McCullough's death, the state of Oregon renamed the "North Bend Bridge" in his honor.

Bridges designed by McCullough

Bridge name	Location	Year completed	Total length	Carries
Old Youngs Bay Bridge	Astoria, Oregon	1921	1,766.2 feet (538.3 m)	U.S. Route 101
Oregon City Bridge	Oregon City, Oregon	1922	745 feet (227 m)	Oregon Route 43
Dry Canyon Creek Bridge	near Rowena, Oregon	1922	101.1 ft	U.S. Route 30
Myrtle Creek Bridge	Myrtle Creek, Oregon	1922	597.1 ft	Old Highway 99
Winchester Bridge	Winchester, Oregon	1923	884 feet	Oregon Route 99
Lewis and Clark River Bridge	Astoria, Oregon	1924	828 feet	U.S. Route 101
Upper Perry Arch Bridge	Perry, Oregon	1924	134 feet (41 m)	Old U.S. 30 off I-84
Ellsworth Street Bridge	Albany, Oregon	1925	1,090 feet	U.S. Route 20
Crooked River High Bridge	Jefferson County, Oregon	1926	464 feet	U.S. Route 97
Rocky Creek Bridge	Lincoln County, Oregon	1927	360 feet	U.S. Route 101
Depoe Bay Bridge	Depoe Bay, Oregon	1927	312 feet	U.S. Route 101
Big Creek Bridge	Lane County, Oregon	1931	180 feet	U.S. Route 101
Ten Mile Creek Bridge	near Yachats, Oregon	1931	180 feet	U.S. Route 101
Wilson River Bridge	Tillamook County, Oregon	1931	180 feet	U.S. Route 101
Sixth Street (Caveman) Bridge	Grants Pass, Oregon	1931	550 feet	Oregon Route 99
Cape Creek Bridge	near Heceta Head	1932	619 feet (188.6 m)	U.S. Route 101
Isaac Lee Patterson Bridge	Gold Beach, Oregon	1932	1,898 feet (578.5 m)	U.S. Route 101
John McLoughlin Bridge	Oregon City, Oregon	1933	720 feet	Oregon Route 99E
Umpqua River Bridge	Reedsport, Oregon	1936	2,206 feet	U.S. Route 101
Siuslaw River Bridge	Florence, Oregon	1936	1,568 feet	U.S. Route 101
Original Alsea Bay Bridge	Waldport, Oregon	1936	3,028 feet	U.S. Route 101
Yaquina Bay Bridge	Newport, Oregon	1936	3,223 feet (982 m)	U.S. Route 101
Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge	North Bend, Oregon	1936	5,305 feet (1.6 km)	U.S. Route 101

References

^ ^a ^b Oregon Department of Transportation. "Spanning Oregon's Coast" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-12-29.
^ ^a ^b ^c ^d ^e ^f His Life: From Iowa State to Oregon State. Archived 2008-10-07 at the Wayback Machine Oregon State University: Civil & Construction Engineering, accessed October 8, 2007.
^ Hadlow, Robert W. (2001). Elegant Arches, Soaring Spans: C.B. McCullough, Oregon's Master Bridge Builder. Oregon State University Press. p. 17. ISBN 0-87071-534-8.
^ Smith, Dwight A. (1989). Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon. Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 242–243. ISBN 0-87595-205-4.
^ Sens, Josh. Oregon Coast Bridges. Via, March 2003.
^ ^a ^b ^c Not Just Bridges. Archived June 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Oregon State University: Civil & Construction Engineering, accessed October 8, 2007.
^ Oregon Death Index, 1898-2008