The bridge spans 1,232ft between the Astoria in Oregon and Megler in Washington state. At its highest point, it allows 196ft of clearance at low tide. The ZPMC gantry crane stands 185ft high, so the tug captain piloting the crane into Portland faced a challenge bringing the crane in safely. According to local newspaper the Daily Astorian, engineers on the top of the crane as it passed under the bridge measured a distance of just four feet between the tip of the crane and the bottom of the bridge.
The crane is the fourth post-Panamax gantry ordered by the Port of Portland from ZPMC in Shanghai. It cost more than $7.8m, and will allow the port to process the largest cargo ships using up to four cranes at once.
Cranes Today has film of the crane entering the mouth of river and passing under the bridge, courtesy of The Daily Astorian, on its Video News page.
