This improvement requires only very light construction, except for short distances, and it is believed it can be kept free from drifting blow sand by the use of sand fences, as the Portage Railroad is used where the sand is the worst, and this was kept open with very little maintenance. With a smooth roadbed, and with nothing to cause drifting, it is thought that the maintenance on this account will be negligible. The route is attractive, as it makes available at close range the Locks at Big Eddy, the Celilo Canal, and the magnificent Celilo Falls. The estimated cost of this project is $142,500.00. It is proposed to include this project in the 1919 program. Deschutes River Bridge. Among the bridges expected to be built in the near future is the proposed reinforced concrete arch bridge over the Deschutes river at Miller, about a mile above the river's mouth. This will be a State and Inter-county structure, and will connect Sherman and Gilliam Counties on the Columbia River Highway, and will be located a few hundred feet below the present old wooden toll bridge which it will replace. The design, which is practically completed, contemplates seven arch spans aggregating 580 feet in length with a filled approach at either end. The estimated cost of the bridge is $75,000.00. WASHINGTON COUNTY During 1917 and 1918, the State Highway Department in co-operation with Washington County has completed the grading, bridging and paving of the West Side Highway across that County. This work has involved the grading and paving of 12.5 miles and the construction of three bridges and one undergrade railway crossing. On this work, when final payments are complete, the State will have expended $292,000.00 and the County will have expended $10,000.00. In addition to this construction, the Department has made surveys between Beaverton and Hillsboro and between Forest Grove and Gaston, and has furnished the County engineering services in connection with the grading of these two sections. Paving--Multnomah County Line to Newberg The pavement on the West Side State Highway between the Multnomah County Line and Newberg is 15.7 miles in length, of which 12.5 miles is in Washington County and 3.2 miles in Yamhill County. This pavement is a two-inch standard bitulithic surface on a crushed rock base. It is sixteen feet wide with a two-foot macadam shoulder on each side. The grading in Washington County and the paving in both Washington and Yamhill Counties was done by Oskar Huber of Portland under a contract awarded him on July 30, 1917. The work was started in August, 1917, and was completed in October, 1918. [Illustration: COVERED WOOD BRIDGE OVER THE TUALATIN RIVER ON THE WEST SIDE HIGHWAY IN WASHINGTON COUNTY. BUILT IN 1918]