Big Creek Bridge, Spanning Big Creek on Oregon Coast Highway (US101), Florence, Lane County, OR

Significance: The Big Creek Bridge is significant as one of the earliest examples of reinforced concrete tied-arch bridge construction in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Big Creek Bridge is also significant as the work of a master, Oregon State Bridge Engineer, Conde B. McCullough, and due to its thematic association with the design and construction of several other major reinforced concrete bridges designed by McCullough and erected along the Oregon Coast Highway in the 1930s. Conde Balcom McCullough served as State Bridge engineer, and later as the assistant State Highway Engineer for Oregon from 1919 until his death in 1946. McCullough is significant for his use of innovative bridge technology, and for his visually appealing designs. He has attained international recognition for the large-scale structures he designed to span the major rivers and estuaries along the Oregon coast for the completion of the Oregon Coast Highway in the 1930s. Eric Delony, Chief of the Historic American Engineering Records (HAER), states in his recent book, "Landmark American Bridges," "This family of bridges represents some of the best and most innovative concrete and steel bridges in the world." The Big Creek Bridge is also significant due to its association with the development and completion of the Oregon Coast Highway (US 101) in the 1930s. The completion of the Oregon Coast Highway was a major public works effort in the early and mid-1930s to establish an uninterrupted transportation route from California to Washington, and was a major factor in the development of commerce and tourism in Oregon's coastal regions, and has since become one of the most notable scenic routes in the Untied States. The Big Creek Bridge was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places in June 1994.
Survey number: HAER OR-86