Today, engineers use high resolution satellite photography and advanced computer modeling software to design roads.
Gazing down upon the graceful, winding Historic Columbia River Highway, it is easy to forget how challenging its construction was in the early 20th century.
One of the first modern paved thoroughfares in the Pacific Northwest, it traversed a rugged landscape from water level to breathtaking heights above the river.
Despite the extreme terrain, engineer John A. Elliott determined that the Highway's eastern section should be built in concert with the gentle turns and grade of its western end as designed by Samuel C. Lancaster.
Here, echoing the loops at Crown Point and Hood River, the road climbs a rise, encircles this overlook, and then loops downward in graceful, sweeping S-turns along the cliff face.
From the Sandy River to the Rowena Bluffs, the Historic Columbia River Highway is a continuous ribbon of curves that snake from near sea level to breathtaking heights above the Columbia River.
The Highway's design standards, inspired by engineers Samuel C. Lancaster and John A. Elliott, required maximum grades of 5 percent and minimum turning radii of 100 feet. In some locations, where steep terrain could not accommodate these standards, engineers
"developed distance" by looping the road back and forth on itself.
"Grades, curvatures, distance and even expense were sacrificed to reach some scenic vista or to develop a particularly interesting spot...
Although the highway would have commercial value in connecting the Coast with the eastern areas, no consideration was given the commercial over the scenic requirements.
The one prevailing idea in the location and construction was to make this highway a great scenic boulevard surpassing all other highways in the world."
John A. Elliot
Engineer, 1929
Columbia River Gorge National Scenic Area
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