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Library Search Results: Abstracts

Your search for brdges found 126 files.
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Showing 1 - 12 of 12 results

Appleway Bridge (Old I-90 Bridge)

The Appleway Bridge, also known as the Old I-90 Bridge, spanned the Spokane River near Stateline, Idaho, on the Washington side of the Idaho-Washington border. It was built in 1939 at a cost of $118,259 and was part of the Appleway, the main highway route between Spokane and Coeur d' Alene, Idaho. This route was also known as Primary State Highway 2 (PSH 2), and US 10. The bridge continued to serve as the main route over the Spokane River between Spokane and Coeur d'Alene even after US 10 became designated as part of the Interstate 90 route, under the new federal interstate system. In 1977, a new limited access freeway portion of I-90, with a pair of new modern bridges, was completed just south of Appleway Bridge. After that, Appleway Bridge was transferred to Spokane County, and it continued to serve as a secondary route over the river, connecting East Appleway Avenue on the Washington side with West Seltice Way on the Idaho side. The bridge's condition deteriorated over the decades. In 2007, Spokane County imposed weight restrictions on the bridge, restricted it to two lanes and designated the bridge for replacement. In 2010, the county accepted a $6.2 million bid for a replacement bridge at the same location. Removal work began in late May 2010 and by August the Appleway Bridge was gone. The new bridge is expected to be constructed by the spring of 2012.
File 9435: Full Text >

Barstow Bridge (Stevens and Ferry counties)

The Barstow Bridge, a surplus military bridge, was placed across the Kettle River in 1947, after floods damaged several earlier bridges. The bridge is located in Northeast Washington on the border between Stevens and Ferry counties, not far from the Canadian border. Since it was a bit short in length, an additional structure was added on to enable it to span the river. After more than 60 years in service, the Barstow Bridge is scheduled to be removed in 2010. It has been put up for sale. If a willing buyer is not found, the bridge will be demolished. The Barstow Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1995.
File 8983: Full Text >

Bridges of Washington State: A Slideshow Primer of Technology Through Time

In Washington state, bridges are ubiquitous. As of August 4, 2010, there were 9,415 bridges on the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) inventory. These include all bridges 10 feet and longer, all bridges owned by state and local agencies, and docks and transfer facilities owned by Washington State Ferries. The inventory includes only a few federally owned bridges and it only includes railroad bridges that cross public roadways. Bridges are added and removed from the inventory every year at the rate of about 100 a year. Forest roads and hiking trails also incorporate bridges. This slideshow offers a brief overview of Washington bridges and bridge technology as it evolved over time.
File 8860: Full Text >

Ebey Slough Bridge (1925-2012)

The Ebey Slough Bridge in Snohomish County is one of four bridges built between 1925 and 1927 to link Everett and Marysville and complete the last section of the Pacific Highway in Washington state. Upon their completion, motorists could for the first time drive on one road through Western Washington from the Oregon border in Clark County to the Canadian border in Whatcom County. The bridge crosses the northernmost of four waterways that have complicated travel between the two towns since the earliest days of white settlement. Because the slough is used by boats and barges, the Ebey Slough Bridge is a swing span that rotates on a mid-slough pivot to clear a channel for vessels. Although the completion in 1969 of Interstate 5 between Everett and Marysville made the old route less essential, it still carried a large number of vehicles. But the Ebey Slough Bridge was designed for a simpler time; it could accommodate only two lanes of traffic and one narrow pedestrian walkway. The bridge stopped opening for floating traffic in 2010, and in 2012 it is to be replaced by a modern, fixed-span, four-lane bridge with expanded sidewalks and a bike lane. When the new bridge is completed, the old bridge will be demolished. As one of the critical links in the original Pacific Highway and one of only four remaining swing bridges in Washington state, its passing is a matter of historical note.
File 10023: Full Text >

Hadley, Homer More (1885-1967), Engineer

Engineer Homer M. Hadley designed several unique concrete bridges throughout the state of Washington during his lifetime, including many early American applications of the European innovation of concrete hollow-box, or cellular construction. This economical method of construction was used extensively throughout Europe, but was not widely used in the United States until the 1940s and 1950s. It was Hadley who originally conceived the design of a floating bridge across Lake Washington, the large lake that separates Seattle from Bellevue and Kirkland (the Eastside). He visualized a floating roadway made up of a series of hollow concrete barges. Homer Hadley's unusual work reveals the effects of a single innovative engineer on bridge design within the state.
File 5419: Full Text >

Manette Bridge (Kitsap County)

The Manette Bridge, spanning the Port Washington Narrows, connected the Kitsap Peninsula city of Bremerton with Manette, a town annexed by Bremerton in 1918 and located across the narrows. The Manette Bridge was constructed in 1929-1930, and a gala celebration accompanied its opening on June 21, 1930. The bridge was partially re-built in 1949, but was still insufficient to carry the rapidly increasing traffic flows brought by high employment at the shipyards. The Warren Avenue Bridge, constructed in 1958 about a half-mile to the northeast, helped alleviate the situation. But during the 2000s the narrow, two-lane Manette Bridge was deemed inadequate and was scheduled for replacement.
File 9477: Full Text >

Manette Bridge: A Slideshow on its History and Technology

The Manette Bridge spans the Port Washington Narrows and connects the Kitsap Peninsula city of Bremerton with Manette, a town annexed by Bremerton in 1918. The Manette Bridge was constructed in 1929-1930, and was partially re-built in 1949. Traffic increased mainly due to commuters to work at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. The Warren Avenue Bridge, constructed in 1958 1.2 miles to the northeast, helped alleviate the situation. But during the 2000s the narrow, two-lane Manette Bridge was deemed inadequate and was scheduled for replacement. Demolition work began in the summer of 2010. This slideshow gives a glimpse of the history and technology of the bridge.
File 9506: Full Text >

Montlake Bridge (Seattle)

The Montlake Bridge spanning the Montlake Cut in Seattle was completed in 1925, the last-built and easternmost of four double-leaf bascule bridges that carry vehicle and pedestrian traffic across the Lake Washington Ship Canal. It is set apart from its sister bridges by both its Gothic architectural details and its mechanical design, and has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1982. The Montlake span had a rough road to realization -- Seattle voters denied it funding on five occasions between 1914 and 1922, and when a $500,000 bond issue finally was passed in 1923, it was ruled void for technical reasons. The bridge went before the voters one last time in 1924, finally gaining emphatic approval. Work on the span began almost immediately, was completed in less than a year, and the bridge was dedicated on June 27, 1925. It has served ever since as the only direct link between the Montlake neighborhood and the University District. Unlike the three other vehicle bridges crossing the ship canal, the Montlake Bridge is owned and operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation and is part of the short State Route 513 that runs from State Route 520 to Sand Point.
File 10216: Full Text >

Now & Then -- Seattle's Fremont Bridge

This file contains Seattle historian and photographer Paul Dorpat's Now & Then photographs and reflections on the Fremont Bridge. The bridge crosses the Lake Washington Canal, connecting Seattle's Fremont Neighborhood with Queen Anne on the other side.
File 2577: Full Text >

Seattle Landmarks: Lacey V. Murrow Floating Bridge and East Portals of the Mount Baker Tunnels (1940)

Address: Interstate 90 and Lake Washington, Seattle. When it was completed in 1940, the Lake Washington Floating Bridge was the longest bridge of its kind in the world. The floating concrete structure solved the problem of spanning 1½ miles of water more than 200 feet deep.
File 3227: Full Text >

Seattle Landmarks: Queen Anne Drive Bridge (1936)

Address: Queen Anne Drive between 2nd Avenue N and Nob Hill Avenue N, Seattle. The bridge across Wolf Creek, on the north side of Queen Anne Hill is a steel arch bridge, 238 feet long. The parabolic two-hinged arch is unusually high and it has a minimum of supporting members. "The simple concrete forms are embellished by regularly spaced groups of rectangular indentations and by tulip-shaped ornamental lighting fixtures mounted on projecting pier headings" (Kreisman).
File 3209: Full Text >

Transportation Chronology: Moving Washington for a Century -- 100 Years in the History of the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT)

This chronology marks the major milestones in the evolution of Washington's transportation system over a century of progress, challenge, and innovation.
File 7273: Full Text >

Showing 1 - 20 of 113 results

Northern Pacific completes a railroad bridge across the mouth of the Snake River at Ainsworth on April 20, 1884.

On April 20, 1884, the first train crosses the Snake River on the Northern Pacific Railroad's bridge at Ainsworth, a railroad construction town located at the junction of the Snake and Columbia Rivers in Franklin County. The completion of the bridge links the Northern Pacific's transcontinental line directly to the Oregon Railway & Navigation track down the Columbia River to Portland, and ultimately to Puget Sound.
File 5033: Full Text >

First trains cross the Northern Pacific Railroad bridge spanning the Columbia River between Pasco and Kennewick on December 3, 1887.

On December 3, 1887, the Northern Pacific Railroad opens a temporary bridge across the Columbia River from Pasco in Franklin County to Kennewick in what is now Benton County. For the first time, transcontinental trains, which previously crossed the river by ferry, are able to run straight through to Tacoma via Stampede Pass. Part of the temporary bridge is soon swept away by winter ice, but it reopens in April 1888. A permanent bridge is in place by July 1888, marking final completion of the Northern Pacific Railroad.
File 5365: Full Text >

First bridge across Salmon Bay is built in 1889.

In 1889, the West Coast Improvement Co., seeking to improve the land that becomes known as Ballard, builds the first bridge across Salmon Bay. It is a wagon bridge made of puncheon (split logs with the face smoothed). The bridge rises and lowers with the tides. (Salmon Bay is now part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, in Seattle.)
File 3437: Full Text >

Spokane's first Monroe Street Bridge is completed on October 17, 1889.

On October 17, 1889, the first Monroe Street Bridge in Spokane is completed. The first bridge on the site is a rickety wooden affair built by the Spokane Cable Railway Company in partnership with the city and private interests. It will burn down in 1890 and be replaced in 1892 by the second Monroe Street Bridge, a steel bridge.
File 7667: Full Text >

Second bridge across Salmon Bay (Seattle), a railroad bridge, is built in 1890.

In 1890, the West Coast Improvement Company builds the second bridge, a railroad bridge, across Salmon Bay. This is part of its land development plan for Gilman Park, soon to be renamed Ballard (annexed to Seattle in 1907). The firm built the first bridge, a wagon bridge, the year before. Salmon Bay will become part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal.
File 3438: Full Text >

Latona Bridge spanning Seattle's Lake Union is dedicated on July 1, 1891.

On July 1, 1891, the first Latona Bridge, which spans Seattle's Lake Union, is dedicated. The fixed-span bridge crosses Lake Union from the Eastlake neighborhood to the University District, and supplants a certain amount of rowboat traffic on Lake Union. It crosses the lake at the position of the future Interstate-5 bridge. In 1919, the University Bridge (a bascule bridge) replaces the Latona Bridge.
File 3328: Full Text >

Wood trestle spans canal and connects Seattle's Fremont neighborhood with the foot of Queen Anne in 1892.

In 1892, a wood trestle is built from Seattle's Fremont neighborhood to the foot of Queen Anne Hill across a narrow canal dug in the 1880s to connect Lake Union with Salmon Bay (now part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal). This trestle has a walkway for pedestrians and a roadway for streetcars and horse drawn vehicles. It enables greater access to Fremont and spurs the community's development.
File 3309: Full Text >

Spokane's second Monroe Street Bridge, a steel bridge, is completed on June 27, 1892.

On June 27, 1892, Spokane's second Monroe Street Bridge, a steel bridge, is completed. It replaces a rickety wooden bridge that burned down in 1890. The steel Monroe Street Bridge will be replaced in 1909 with Spokane's historic concrete arch Monroe Street Bridge, at the time the largest concrete-arch bridge in the world.
File 7683: Full Text >

Ed Timmerman completes work on a cable ferry across the Columbia near present-day Richland in September 1894.

In September 1894, August E. "Ed" Timmerman, a rancher, completes a cable ferry at the future Columbia point, near Richland. Realizing the place would be an ideal place to build a cable ferry, he buys land, builds two towers on either side of the river, and launches the ferry. It operates until 1931 when automobile bridges render it obsolete.
File 8453: Full Text >

Citizens build Jordan Bridge spanning the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River in 1896.

In 1896, citizens near present-day Jordan in Snohomish County build a suspension bridge over the South Fork of the Stillaguamish River. Its purpose is to connect the homesteads along the river to each other and to get the children to the school on the east side of the river. A few years later, the bridge will be widened to support light vehicles, horses, and cattle. After the expansion of the Jordan Valley Mine in 1922, it will continue to provide an adventurous way across the river to residents of the area. Today, a new more solid suspension bridge has replaced it. It is located on Jordon Road about six miles southeast of Arlington.
File 9325: Full Text >

Lewiston-Clarkston Bridge, first bridge to span the Snake River between Washington and Idaho, opens for traffic on June 24, 1899.

On June 24, 1899, the Lewiston-Clarkston Bridge, the first bridge to span the Snake River between Washington and Idaho, opens for traffic. The 1,700-foot-long bridge connects Clarkston, Washington (Asotin County) and Lewiston, Idaho. The span is a toll bridge; fees are five cents to cross if you are on foot, ten cents if you are on a horse or in a wagon.
File 7612: Full Text >

King County builds first drawbridge over the Duwamish Waterway at Spokane Street in 1902.

In 1902 or 1903, King County builds the first drawbridge over the Duwamish Waterway at Spokane Street. The bridge crosses the newly dredged Duwamish River and connects Seattle to West Seattle. Seattle will build a second bridge in 1907 after West Seattle is annexed into the city.
File 3510: Full Text >

Riverton Draw Bridge is built across the Duwamish River in 1903.

In 1903, the Riverton Draw Bridge (also called the Riverton Drawspan and designated King County Bridge 622-A) is built and placed into service. The wooden plank, swing-span bridge, which crosses the Duwamish, is built to carry foot traffic and horse-drawn vehicles, but is quickly forced to accommodate automobiles as well. The west foot of the bridge is in the community known as Riverton, and the east foot is in the small settlement called Allentown. The road approaching the bridge on the west side of the river crosses the Puget Sound Electric Railway (Interurban) track at grade (at the level of the rails). Drivers entering the bridge from the west must make a sharply angled blind turn from road to bridge, which renders the bridge and its west approaches extremely hazardous.
File 4252: Full Text >

Second Spokane Street drawbridge over the Duwamish Waterway is completed in 1907.

In 1907, the Second Spokane Street drawbridge is completed connecting Seattle to the newly annexed West Seattle. The wood structure has two 80-foot spans and a roadway 20 feet 4 inches wide. It carries vehicles and streetcars.
File 3511: Full Text >

First highway bridge to span Columbia River opens at Wenatchee in 1908.

In 1908, the first highway bridge to span the Columbia River opens at Wenatchee. The privately owned bridge carries people, horses, wagons, and a rare motorcar, and also water in two large pipelines along its sides. It connects Chelan County on the Wenatchee shore with Douglas County on the eastern shore (now East Wenatchee), and opens Douglas County to apple orchard development. It is a 1,060-foot pinconnected steel cantilever bridge and costs $177,000 to build. It carries Sunset Highway (State Route No. 2, now Primary State Highway 2) across the river. Today (2011) it is used as a footbridge and is the oldest extant steel cantilever bridge in the state of Washington.
File 5172: Full Text >

Train carries James J. Hill across the new Columbia River railroad bridge from Portland to Vancouver on November 5, 1908.

On November 5, 1908, a special train carries the Great Northern Railway's "Empire Builder" James J. Hill, (1838-1916) and his party from Portland to Vancouver, Washington, across the new Spokane, Portland & Seattle Bridge. This bridge will still be in use as the Burlington Northern Railroad Bridge in 2008.
File 8740: Full Text >

Oxbow Bridge over Duwamish River is completed in 1911.

In 1911, the Oxbow Bridge over the Duwamish River on 1st Avenue S at S Michigan Street is completed. The low-level swing span is one of the first three permanent steel bridges in Seattle and is a joint project by Seattle, King County, and a real estate company. It replaces a wood structure built in the 1890s. In 1916, the bridge will be altered and shifted to accommodate the newly rechanneled river.
File 3509: Full Text >

Seattle's 12th Avenue South (Dearborn Street) Bridge is built in 1911.

In 1911, Seattle's 12th Avenue South or Dearborn Street Bridge is erected. It is one of the first permanent steel bridges build in Seattle. In 1974 it will be renamed the Jose Rizal Bridge (for the Filipino hero). In 2007 it is the state's oldest steel-arch bridge.
File 8437: Full Text >

Fremont's first high bridge (called Stone Way Bridge) opens on May 31, 1911.

On May 31, 1911, Fremont's first high bridge over Lake Union, called Stone Way Bridge, opens to traffic. Fremont is a neighborhood of Seattle. The bridge performs service until June 15, 1917, when the Fremont Bridge, built as part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal project, opens to traffic.
File 3313: Full Text >

Spokane's third Monroe Street Bridge, the historic concrete-arch bridge, opens on November 23, 1911.

On November 23, 1911, Spokane's third Monroe Street Bridge opens. Considered a marvel of beauty and functionality, it is the largest concrete-arch bridge in the United States. A major transportation link, the bridge becomes a "revered symbol" of Spokane ("Bridging the Past ...," Spokesman-Review), and "Spokane's premier character-defining landmark" (Holstine and Hobbs). The bridge is designed and constructed by Spokane city engineers, and the elaborate ornamentation is provided by the Spokane firm of Kirtland Cutter and Karl Malmgren.
File 7669: Full Text >

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Showing 1 - 1 of 1 results

Allentown Covered Bridge

Kent resident Michael C. Atkins submitted this retrospective on the Allentown Covered Bridge (built 1903, burned down 1956), which spanned the Union Pacific rail line. The bridge was replaced by the Codiga Bridge, which carries S 129th Street over Interstate 5 and railroad tracks. Allentown is located in King County just north of Tukwila and west of Skyway. Michael's family has lived in the Skyway area since 1956.
File 7812: Full Text >

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