The 1925 Chambers Covered Bridge is the only remaining covered railroad bridge in Oregon, located in Cottage Grove, Lane County, Oregon. At 78 feet (24 m) long, it spans the Coast Fork Willamette River and was built by lumberman J.H. Chambers using the Howe truss design to carry rail traffic hauling logs from the Lorane Valley to the J.H. Chambers Mill. The bridge was only in operation from 1925 to 1951, when the mill closed after a fire burned the mill down. Later in the 1950s, the railroad was sold for scrap, and the bridge was no longer used. The railroad tracks were removed, and the bridge was in private ownership until December 2006, when the City of Cottage Grove finally secured full ownership of it.

While construction of the railroad Howe trusses ended in the 1920s, a significant number of this type of bridge remained in service until the 1970s and 1980s. Unfortunately, only a few examples survived into the twenty-first century.

During its time in private ownership, no maintenance was performed, and significant damage and decay occurred to the bridge. The only reason the bridge remained standing was because of the oversized timbers used to support the heavy loads of the steam locomotives and railcars loaded with logs. During restoration, these oversized materials used in the original construction added significant cost to the restoration efforts. The Chambers Covered Railroad Bridge is now the only remaining covered railroad bridge west of the Mississippi River.

In addition to acquiring the bridge, property on the east end of the bridge was donated to the City for access and development of a new city park. Coupled with the City’s ownership of the land on the west end of the bridge, full access and use of the bridge was secured and served as a pedestrian and bicycle crossing of the Coast Fork Willamette River.

In 2008, the National Historic Covered Bridge Preservation Program, administered by the Federal Highway Administration, awarded a grant of $1,315,370 to the City of Cottage Grove for the rehabilitation of the Chambers Covered Bridge, one of seven covered bridges in Oregon that received grants during the same period.

Chambers Covered Bridge was removed in 2010 and replaced with a bridge that is identical to the original one, which was completed in November 2011 and is now open for pedestrians.

The Chambers Railroad Bridge is listed on the National Historic Places.

Located at:  N43 47.363   W123 04.187       -       WGCB #37-20-40 #2

Photographed in May of 2025

Photos by Millard Farmer