Vancouver Land Bridge
Type: Earth covered pedestrian/bicycle (beam) bridge
Main Span Length: 190 ft total bridge length
Center Clearance Over Washington State (Lewis and Clark) Highway: 24 feet
Outside Width: 40 feet
Color: warm buff color
Cost: $12.25 million
Purpose: Reconnects historic Fort Vancouver with the Columbia River waterfront
Engineer/Designer: KPFF Consulting Engineers
Architect/Designer: Johnpaul Jones, as part of the Maya Lin Confluence Project to create a series of seven art installations from the border of Idaho to the mouth of the Columbia River.

 

Vancouver Land Bridge

Designed to reconnect Fort Vancouver with the Columbia River, the Land Bridge symbolizes ties forged between local Native American people and Lewis and Clark. Its 3,800-foot paved trail Land Bridge begins southwest of Fort Vancouver, threads past the fort’s orchard and Village, over SR-14, through Old Apple Tree Park and connects to the popular Columbia River Renaissance Waterfront Trail.

From the Land Bridge, walkers and bicyclists can view Fort Vancouver, the Columbia River and Mount Hood. The bridge’s interpretation includes a Language Walk with words in several Native languages about the land, people and river. A history timeline path and photographic murals visualizes how the landscape has changed over time.

The Vancouver Land Bridge celebrates the land, people, and river while providing a safe pedestrian route from the Renaissance Trail on the Columbia River with Fort Vancouver National Historic Site and Vancouver, Washington’s Central Park.

The Vancouver Land Bridge is one of seven sites of the Confluence Project. Designer Maya Lin, who designed the Vietnam Memorial, was commissioned by Native American tribes and civic groups to create a series of seven art installations along the Columbia River Basin created to evoke the history of the Lewis and Clark Expedition. These installations range from the border of Idaho to the mouth of the Columbia River.

The Land Bridge provides an important pedestrian and bike connection between the walking routes along the Columbia River with the historic sites that were blocked by Highway 14 and railroad tracks. Beyond access, it takes walkers on an artistic journey that links the River, Land and People.

 

http://walking.about.com/od/trailusawest/ig/Vancouver-Land-Bridge/
http://www.fortvan.org/pages/walking-trails-and-land-bridge