The University Bridge is a double-leaf

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...

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 ...

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 ...

that carries Eastlake Avenue traffic over

Portage Bay Portage Bay is a body of water, often thought of as the eastern arm of Lake Union, that forms a part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in Seattle, Washington. To the east, Portage Bay is connected with Union Bay—a part of Lake Washington— ...

between Eastlake to the south and the University District to the north. It opened on July 1, 1919, and was extensively rebuilt from 1932 to 1933. It is included in the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

History

The bridge opened in 1919 under the name of ''Eastlake Avenue Bridge'' (also then known as the ''Tenth Avenue Northeast Bridge''). It got its current and proper name on June 30, 1919. By 1930, the bridge had begun to deteriorate enough for an extensive refit to be ordered: the timber trestle approaches were replaced with ones made out of concrete and steel, the control towers were rebuilt, and the wooden paving was replaced by the first application of open steel-mesh grating in the United States. Wooden paving had to be replaced every ten years or so; the steel-mesh grating has been replaced once, in 1990. The reconstructed bridge was opened April 7, 1933. All three double-leaf bascule bridges (Ballard, Fremont, and University) were added to the

in 1982. In 2014 its electronics were refitted. During especially hot summer days, the University Bridge need daily dousings with cool water to avoid expanding so much that they bind.

Sinkhole

On May 2, 2007, a water main broke near the south end of the University Bridge, creating a sinkhole forcing the closure of the bridge. The sinkhole also swallowed two unoccupied parked cars. The water main break compromised water quality and pressure in a large part of the Eastlake neighborhood, making tap water brown and unpotable. Many restaurants and other businesses were forced to close. There was concern for the integrity of a 40-inch main adjacent to the smaller one that broke. With the bridge closed, surface traffic between Seattle's University District and Downtown areas was heavily impacted. It was reopened on May 3, 2007, after city workers poured about 40 cubic yards of stabilizing concrete-sand slurry around the southern base of the bridge.

Occupy Seattle

On November 17, 2011, the University Bridge was shut down by demonstrators for about an hour and a half during the evening rush hour, snarling traffic around the University District. The demonstrators included

Occupy Seattle Occupy Seattle was a series of demonstrations in Seattle, Washington, United States in 2011 and 2012, that formed part of the wider Occupy movement taking place in numerous U.S. and world cities at that time. The demonstrations were particular ...

protesters, students, union workers, and church leaders. The protests were part of a national Day of Action against cuts to infrastructure, health care, and education spending.

Pictures

File:University Bridge and Ship Canal Bridge.JPG, The bridge viewed from the east, with

Ship Canal Bridge The Ship Canal Bridge is a double-deck steel truss bridge that carries Interstate 5 (I-5) over Seattle's Portage Bay (part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, after which it is named) between Capitol Hill and the University District. The ca ...

in the background. Image:Seattle_Univ_Bridge_03A.jpg, The bridge at sunset, viewed from the west Image:Seattle_-_University_Bridge_from_behind_Pocock_Center.jpg, View from the south end Image:Seattle_-_University_Bridge_from_Portage_Bay_Place_E_01.jpg, Bridge while open

References

External links

Seattle Department of Transportation: University Bridge
{{Authority control 1919 establishments in Washington (state) Bascule bridges in the United States Bridges in Seattle Bridges completed in 1919 Drawbridges on the National Register of Historic Places National Register of Historic Places in Seattle Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Washington (state)