Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge

Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge
The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge (right) and the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge (left) in 2005, looking east toward Mercer Island
Coordinates47°35′24″N 122°16′12″W / 47.5899°N 122.27°W / 47.5899; -122.27
Carries I-90, eastbound lanes
CrossesLake Washington
LocaleSeattle / Mercer Island, Washington, U.S.
Maintained byWashington State Department of Transportation
Characteristics
DesignPontoon bridge
Total length6,620 ft (2,020 m)
History
OpenedJuly 2, 1940
RebuiltSeptember 12, 1993
Location
Map

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 Washington from Seattle to Mercer Island. Westbound traffic is carried by the adjacent Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge.

The Murrow Bridge is the second-longest floating bridge in the world, at 6,620 ft (2,020 m) (the longest is the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge–Evergreen Point, a few miles north on the same lake). The original Murrow Bridge opened in 1940, and was named the Lake Washington Floating Bridge. It was renamed the Lacey V. Murrow bridge in 1967.[1] The original bridge closed in 1989;[2][3] the current bridge opened in 1993.[4]

Along with the east portals of the Mount Baker Ridge Tunnel, the bridge is an official City of Seattle landmark and a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.[5][6] While the bridge originally had an opening span at the center of the bridge to allow a horizontal opening of 202 feet (62 m) for major waterborne traffic, the only boat passages currently are elevated fixed spans at the termini with 29 feet (8.8 m) of vertical clearance.[7]

  1. ^ Lange, G. (1999). Lake Washington Floating Bridge is dedicated on July 2, 1940. Washington State Department of Transportation. http://www.historylink.org/File/682
  2. ^ Costello, Nancy (November 26, 1990). "Flood waters send bridge to bottom". Lewiston Morning Tribune. Associated Press. p. 1A.
  3. ^ "Floating bridge collapses after storm hits". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. November 26, 1990. p. A1.
  4. ^ "Floating bridge opens". Spokesman-Review. Associated Press. September 13, 1993. p. A12.
  5. ^ Landmarks Alphabetical Listing for L Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine, Individual Landmarks, Department of Neighborhoods, City of Seattle. Accessed December 28, 2007.
  6. ^ Witcher, T.R. (September 2018). "Success in Seattle: The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and Mount Baker Ridge Tunnel". Civil Engineering. American Society of Civil Engineers. pp. 44–47.
  7. ^ Tudor Engineering Company for Washington State Highway Commission Department of Highways. Legislative Reconnaissance and Feasibility Report "Lake Washington Bridge Crossings, Parallel Evergreen Point Bridge, North Lake Bridge. December 1968.