Conde McCullough

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 1946. McCullough also was a professor at Oregon State University.

Conde McCullough
Conde B. McCullough
Born(1887-05-30)May 30, 1887
Redfield, South Dakota, U.S.
DiedMay 6, 1946(1946-05-06) (aged 58)
Salem, Oregon, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
OccupationEngineer
Engineering career
ProjectsCrooked 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
McCullough in 1922

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
Yaquina Bay Bridge (1936)

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 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 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 Coos Bay 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
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

See also

References
  1. Oregon Department of Transportation. "Spanning Oregon's Coast" (PDF). Retrieved 2013-12-29. Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. Smith, Dwight A. (1989). Historic Highway Bridges of Oregon. Oregon Historical Society Press. pp. 242–243. ISBN 0-87595-205-4.
  5. Sens, Josh. Oregon Coast Bridges. Via, March 2003.
  6. Not Just Bridges. Archived June 18, 2010, at the Wayback Machine Oregon State University: Civil & Construction Engineering, accessed October 8, 2007.
  7. Oregon Death Index, 1898-2008
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