Deadwood Creek Covered Bridge

The Deadwood Creek Bridge carries Deadwood Loop Road over Deadwood Creek in the rural, heavily forested western reaches of Lane County, within the Siuslaw National Forest along the Central Oregon Coast Range, upstream of the small community of Deadwood near Swisshome. Built in 1932 by longtime Lane County bridge builder Miller Sorenson for roughly $4,814, the 105-foot Howe truss structure is distinguished by its banked, or slanted, flooring, an engineering solution built into the deck to make it safer for vehicles to negotiate the sharp curve in the road as they entered and exited the covered span. A modern concrete bridge bypassed the covered structure in the 1970s, after which the aging bridge fell into disrepair. Rather than let it be lost, Lane County officials committed funding for a full restoration, and by 1986 the bridge had been returned to sound condition. Added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 29, 1979, the Deadwood Creek Bridge remains open to vehicle traffic today and stands as one of the more remote and lesser-visited covered bridges in the county's collection, prized by enthusiasts for its distinctive banked floor and coastal-range setting.