Soil drilling helps prepare for Burnside Bridge replacement [Video]

PORTLAND, Ore. — Construction is still a few years away, but once it starts, the Burnside Bridge will be closed for five years. 

Planning continues for Earthquake Ready Burnside Bridge, a replacement for the downtown Portland river crossing that will be built to withstand a major earthquake. The $895 million project has been flying mostly under the radar, but it got some visual movement last week.

People driving or walking across the bridge last week may have seen and heard a loud drilling operation down at the Waterfront Park below. Contractors were boring 200-foot-deep holes to take soil samples that will help determine the type of foundations that will support the new bridge — an important part of the still-in-progress design phase.

Built in 1926, the current Burnside Bridge carried about 35,000 …