![]() With the opening of the new bridge, the 49-year-old Murrow Bridge closed on June 23, 1989, for renovation that was projected to take three years. Hadley Memorial Bridge, was completed in 1989, and named for Hadley in 1993. Renovation or replacement became essential and a parallel bridge, the Homer M. The problems grew worse as the traffic load increased over the years and far outstripped the designed capacity. There were many serious collisions on the bridge. A reversible lane system, indicated by lighted overhead lane control signals with arrow and 'X' signs, compounded the hazard by putting one lane of traffic on the "wrong" side of the bulge during morning and evening rush hours in an effort to alleviate traffic into or out of Seattle. This design resulted in a roadway bulge that required vehicles to swerve twice across polished steel joints as they passed the bulge. It included a movable span that could be retracted into a pocket in the center of the fixed span to permit large boats to pass. The original bridge was built under a 1 + 1⁄ 2-year contract awarded to the Puget Sound Bridge and Dredging Company in the amount of $3.254 million. A 1925 graduate of Washington State College in Pullman, he was the oldest brother of CBS commentator Edward R. Air Force officer who served as a bomber pilot in World War II, rising to the rank of brigadier general. Murrow (1904–1966) was the second director of the Washington State Highway Department and a highly decorated U.S. The bridge sank in a storm on Novemduring refurbishment and repair. Opened July 2, 1940, the bridge carried US 10 (later decommissioned and renamed Interstate 90). It was partially financed by a bond issue of $4.184 million. The construction cost for the project, including approaches, was approximately $9 million. Construction began Januand was completed in 1940. The bridge came about after intensive lobbying, particularly by George Lightfoot, who came to be called the "father of the bridge." Lightfoot began campaigning for the bridge in 1930, enlisting the support of Miller Freeman. The bridge was the brainchild of engineer Homer Hadley, who had made the first proposal in 1921. History Ĭonstruction of the bridge photo taken one year after start of construction. 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. Īlong 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. The original bridge closed in 1989 the current bridge opened in 1993. The original Murrow Bridge opened in 1940, and was named the Lake Washington Floating Bridge. Rosellini Bridge–Evergreen Point, a few miles north on the same lake). 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. Westbound traffic is carried by the adjacent Homer M. 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. ![]() Murrow Memorial Bridge is a floating bridge in the Seattle metropolitan area of the U.S. Washington State Department of Transportation Seattle / Mercer Island, Washington, U.S. Murrow Memorial Bridge (right) and the Homer M.
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