project date: 2012 | by peter reedijk

A hundred years ago, the Martin Luther King Viaduct did not have a such classy name and, instead of spanning asphalt and railroad tracks, it spanned vast marshy wetlands and fertile flood plains. Ships plied the Willamette River, and huge log rafts waited processing at Portland's largest lumber mill. Brand new model T's chugged out of the new Ford factory, passing the mill's mountain of sawdust.

Today, the bridge is a sleek, modern concrete structure with stainless and galvanized steel accents. Sea Reach designed and fabricated twenty-five exhibits that face in all directions at the bridge's towers. The exhibit design compliments the architecture. They are fabricated in etched stainless steel, powder-coated aluminum, and porcelain enamel - intended to last as long as the bridge.