The 1945 Lowell Bridge is a 165-foot covered bridge located over Dexter Reservoir in Lowell, Lane County, Oregon, United States. Before the Lowell Bridge was constructed, pioneer Amos Hyland settled on the Middle Fork Willamette River in 1874. He established the town of Lowell, which he named after his birthplace of Lowell, Maine. The founding of the city coincided with the construction of a railroad through the settlement. At the site of the current bridge, Hyland operated a ferry across the river until 1907, when the bridge was built to bypass the expensive ferry to cross the Willamette River, which was a main passageway for settlers and supplies to reach the Willamette Valley at the turn of the 20th Century.

The original bridge was built in 1907 by Nels Roney and a crew of 8 men for $6,295. This Howe truss covered bridge, while new, was part of a larger project Roney was working on to rebuild many of the covered spans that were destroyed by heavy snow and statewide flooding during the thaw in 1861. Later, the bridge was rebuilt in 1945 for $25,473 after a dam was put in to create the reservoir.

An accident occurred in 1945 when a truck caused major damage to the bridge. It was replaced by the current bridge, which is the widest in the state. In 1953, in preparation for the flooding expected to be caused by the Dexter Dam in two years, the entire bridge was raised 6 feet (1.8 m), and the floor was replaced. When Dexter Dam was completed in 1955, it inundated the area, creating Dexter Reservoir. The engineers' water level calculations proved to be correct: the water clearance was about 2 feet (0.6 m).

Until 1981, some of the heaviest truck traffic in Oregon passed through the Lowell Bridge. It was closed that year when a concrete span was being built to parallel the old wooden one. Before the closure, a dump truck passing through the bridge with its bed raised damaged the span extensively. Unlike the prior damage, the bridge was repaired with new roof braces and portal boards before the new concrete bypass was opened a few weeks later.

The Western Federal Lands Highway Division, Lane County, the Oregon Department of Transportation, and the United States Forest Service built an interpretive center in 2006 for $1.2 million. It includes several signs explaining the history of Lane County's covered bridges and the area around Lowell and Lowell Bridge. This is an excellent rest stop with parking, bathrooms, picnic facilities, and outstanding views across the lake.

Inside the bridge, there are large, backlit display boards that tell the more detailed story of Roney, the bridge, the local economy, and even the maintenance of the bridge over the years. One of the displays even has a small model with a cut-away section of the outside of the bridge so you can see how the structure was designed.

Lowell Bridge was rehabilitated in 2006 and reopened for pedestrian access to the Lowell Covered Bridge Interpretive Center. Most of the structural components from 1945 were used in rehabilitation. The bridge is closed to vehicular traffic.

The Lowell Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.

Located at:  N43 54.55   W122 46.74       -       WGCB #37-20-18

Photographed in May of 2025

Photos by Millard Farmer