MISSION — The Thornhollow Bridge is restored and open once again. 

The Confederated Tribes of the Umatilla Indian Reservation (CTUIR), Oregon Department of Transportation (ODOT) and Umatilla County representatives held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on May 8 to celebrate the opening of the new bridge, restoring a key crossing on the Umatilla Indian Reservation (UIR) six years after a devastating flood damaged the structure.

The bridge, located about 13 miles east of Mission along Thornhollow Road, was severely damaged after devastating flooding in February 2020 and removed in 2022.

Permitting for the bridge construction was initially slated to start in 2025, but in March 2021, Umatilla County commissioners announced in a press conference that the process would begin four years earlier.

“It’s great to have this open again, because a number of tribal people have had to go to Cayuse, then go to Mission to go to Walla Walla,” CTUIR Board of Trustees (BOT) Chair N. Kathryn Brigham said. “This is much closer and safer.”

Before its destruction, the bridge served as the closest river crossing for residents north of the Umatilla River and in the Thornhollow area. Detours to the north or south of the crossing added about 16 miles of travel, according to an estimate from ODOT Region 5 Manager Ken Patterson.

“To do that for a number of years, that’s a real pain,” Patterson said.

Construction on the bridge was completed on April 20, and traffic was allowed to cross the following day after liability was transferred from ODOT to Umatilla County. HP Civil Inc. of Salem installed the bridge and built the approaching roadways on both sides.

The project cost was budgeted at $3.5 million courtesy of the Local Bridge Program through ODOT. The program includes bridge design, engineering, construction, right-of-way and construction engineering. Umatilla County provided a 10.27% match to the state funding.

“It’s been a project of frustration, of just pure non-patience,” Umatilla County Commissioner Dan Dorran said. “But it’s one of the greatest little projects that I’ve been around as a politician, and this is the fourth bridge I’ve been able to be a part of in my almost six years (as commissioner).”

Dorran said there had not been a day in which he did not get a phone call regarding the bridge. He also said he was amazed at how the funding cycle included everybody.

“I made this promise that we’d have this bridge back within two and a half years. Well, I’m two and a half years into my second term, so I’m going to go ahead and call that a win,” Dorran joked. “Let’s celebrate the Thornhollow Bridge, what it means to the tribes and what it means to everybody in Umatilla County, it wasn’t just tribal members bugging every day, I’ll guarantee you that.”

Patterson said that if this was the third bridge for the Thornhollow crossing location, he wants it to be the last one.

“This project for me is an example of persistence, resilience and creativity,” he said. “This road means something to everybody who uses it, for school, getting to work and emergency services, it’s an important road.”

Brigham said the UIR suffered several disasters during the 2020 flood, but the bridge loss was a major one. She said it was truly a partnership to get the bridge reconstructed because it could not have been done single-handedly.

“I just want to thank everyone in the community who wanted to see this open again. I want to thank you for your impatience. I think that persistence was really what got this done,” Brigham said. “It was a long project. It probably would have been even longer if we hadn’t had the people in the community demanding it, so thank you, everyone.”