Third Lake Washington Bridge
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The Third Lake Washington Bridge, officially the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, is a floating bridge in the
Seattle metropolitan area The Seattle metropolitan area is an urban conglomeration in the U.S. state of Washington that comprises Seattle, its surrounding satellites and suburbs. It contains the three most populous counties in the state—King, Snohomish, and Pierceâ ...
of the
U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sover ...
of
Washington Washington commonly refers to: * Washington (state), United States * Washington, D.C., the capital of the United States ** A metonym for the federal government of the United States ** Washington metropolitan area, the metropolitan area centered o ...
. It is one of the
Interstate 90 floating bridges The Interstate 90 floating bridges is the common name for the twin floating bridges that carry a section of Interstate 90 across Lake Washington between Seattle and Mercer Island in the U.S. state of Washington. They are the: * Lacey V. Murrow M ...
, carrying the westbound lanes of
Interstate 90 Interstate 90 (I-90) is an east–west transcontinental freeway and the longest Interstate Highway in the United States at . It begins in Seattle, Washington, and travels through the Pacific Northwest, Mountain West, Great Plains, Midwest, and ...
across
Lake Washington Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest natural lake in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. It borders the cities of Seattle on the west, ...
between
Mercer Island Mercer Island is a city in King County, Washington, United States, located on an island of the same name in the southern portion of Lake Washington. Mercer Island is in the Seattle metropolitan area, with Seattle to its west and Bellevue to it ...
and
Seattle Seattle ( ) is a seaport city on the West Coast of the United States. It is the seat of King County, Washington. With a 2020 population of 737,015, it is the largest city in both the state of Washington and the Pacific Northwest regio ...
. The floating bridge is the fifth-longest of its kind in the world, at 5,811 feet (1,772 m).


History

A third floating bridge on Lake Washington was proposed in the 1950s during construction of the
Evergreen Point Floating Bridge The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also known as the 520 Bridge and officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, carries Washington State Route 520 across Lake Washington from Seattle to its eastern suburbs. The floating span is the ...
to the north. After several locations were considered, a span parallel to the existing Lake Washington Floating Bridge (now the
Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge is a floating bridge in the Seattle metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Washington. It is one of the Interstate 90 floating bridges that carries the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 across Lake Washingto ...
) was chosen in the 1960s. The first pontoon for the new bridge was floated from Everett to Lake Washington in September 1983. The bridge opened in 1989 and is named for Homer More Hadley, who designed the bridge's companion span, the parallel Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge. Hadley also designed the McMillin Bridge in Pierce County. It originally carried bidirectional traffic while the older Murrow Bridge underwent extensive renovations. On November 25, 1990, sections of the Murrow Bridge sank during a windstorm that flooded several pontoons; the sinking sections also severed 13 of the 58 anchor cables of the Hadley Bridge, which remained closed for several days. Following the reopening of the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, two reversible high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes were set up on the Hadley Bridge to accommodate the traffic flow between Seattle and the suburban Eastside (westbound in the morning, eastbound in the evenings). The lanes were opened to all Mercer Island commuters, including single-occupant vehicles, per a 1978 agreement negotiated by the city government. The reversible lanes were planned to be converted for light rail use at a future date, but design issues prevented a simple conversion from being feasible.
Sound Transit Sound Transit (ST), officially the Central Puget Sound Regional Transit Authority, is a public transit agency serving the Seattle metropolitan area in the U.S. state of Washington. It operates the Link light rail system in Seattle and Tacoma, r ...
and the
Washington State Department of Transportation The Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT or WashDOT, both ) is a governmental agency that constructs, maintains, and regulates the use of transportation infrastructure in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. Establi ...
added HOV lanes to the bridge's westbound lanes in 2017. This preceded construction of the East Link light rail line from downtown Seattle to Bellevue and Redmond, which will use the former reversible express lanes. When East Link, scheduled to be completed in 2023, begins operation, it will be the first permanent railroad on a floating bridge. The light rail line will employ a set of floating spans for tracks on the transition between pontoons and the fixed spans. The Maxau Pontoon Rhine Bridge of 1865 in Germany was temporarily used for a railroad.


Usage

The bridge carries four westbound lanes, including a HOV lane, as well as a bicycle and pedestrian path on the north side. The path is wide and includes two barriers: a outer railing and a concrete barrier facing traffic. Prior to 2017, it also carried two reversible lanes, configured to normally carry westbound traffic on weekday mornings and eastbound traffic at other times. Use of the reversible express lanes was restricted to HOV traffic, except for vehicles traveling to and from Mercer Island. With a total of five traffic lanes and three full-sized
shoulders The human shoulder is made up of three bones: the clavicle (collarbone), the scapula (shoulder blade), and the humerus (upper arm bone) as well as associated muscles, ligaments and tendons. The articulations between the bones of the shoulder mak ...
, the Third Lake Washington Bridge was the widest floating bridge in the world, until the completion of the new
Evergreen Point Floating Bridge The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also known as the 520 Bridge and officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, carries Washington State Route 520 across Lake Washington from Seattle to its eastern suburbs. The floating span is the ...
in 2016.


See also

*
Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge is a floating bridge in the Seattle metropolitan area of the U.S. state of Washington. It is one of the Interstate 90 floating bridges that carries the eastbound lanes of Interstate 90 across Lake Washingto ...
*
List of Seattle bridges The city of Seattle, Washington, United States, has multiple bridges that are significant due to their function, historical status, or engineering. Bridges are needed to cross the city's waterways and hilly topography. Twelve bridges have been ...


References


External links


Bridge Camera, includes some weather information
{{coord, 47.589841, N, 122.269421, W, source:dewiki_region:US-WA_type:landmark, format=dms, display=title Bridges completed in 1989 Bridges in Seattle Bridges in King County, Washington Monuments and memorials in Washington (state) Interstate 90 Road bridges in Washington (state) Bridges on the Interstate Highway System 1989 establishments in Washington (state) Pontoon bridges in the United States