10 of the world's longest bridges - CNN.com 10 of the world's longest bridges Benjamin Solomon, Travel + Leisure Updated 6:16 AM ET, Thu July 30, 2015 Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. Photos: Longest suspension bridge – The world's longest suspension bridge, the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge in Japan, spans the Akashi Strait that separates Kobe from Iwaya. Hide Caption 1 of 10 Photos: Longest inhabited bridge – Krämerbrücke, the longest inhabited bridge, is located in Erfurt, Germany. It's a stone arch bridge dating back to 1325. Some 32 of the 62 houses added on top survive. Hide Caption 2 of 10 Photos: Longest continuous bridge over water – The longest continuous bridge over water, the Lake Pontchartrain Causeway in Louisiana, runs 23.79 miles over open water. Hide Caption 3 of 10 Photos: Longest canopy walkway – The Taman Negara Canopy Walkway in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, is the world's longest canopy walkway.

Hide Caption Longest floating bridge – Evergreen Point Bridge in Seattle, Washington, is the longest floating bridge. Hide Caption 5 of 10 Photos: Longest masonry arch bridge – The longest masonry arch bridge span is Pont de la Libération in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France. Hide Caption 6 of 10 Photos: Longest covered bridge – The longest covered bridge is the Hartland Bridge in New Brunswick, Canada, a National Historic Site of Canada. Hide Caption 7 of 10 Photos: Longest rail bridge – China takes the title for the longest rail bridge with the Danyang--Kunshan Grand Bridge, which connects Shanghai to Nanjing along the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway. Hide Caption 8 of 10 Photos: Longest ice bridge – The longest ice bridge is the Beaufort Sea Road in Alaska. Yes, it's pure Arctic ice. Hide Caption 9 of 10 Photos: Longest natural bridge span – The Fairy Bridge in Guangxi, China has the longest natural bridge span. It's only accessible by a three-hour rafting trip.

Hide Caption These 10 longest bridges range from suspension to ice bridges Every day, 23,000 cars pass over Japan's Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge Kuala Lumpur boasts the longest canopy walkway at 1,509 feet China is home to three of the world's longest natural bridge spans (Travel Leisure) If you ever find yourself in Hunan, China, rent a car and drive the Jishou-Chadong Expressway: 18 tunnels under the Wuling mountains that culminate at the Aizhai Bridge, a gut-churning 1,150-foot-high suspension bridge over the Dehang Canyon. It's a man-made wonder, the world's highest (and maybe even scariest) tunnel-to-tunnel bridge -- and yet it ranks only 15th among the world's longest suspension bridges. For the thrill of seeing No. 1, you'd need to head to Kobe, Japan, and marvel at the Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge. But in the race to build the biggest and baddest bridges of them all, record-hungry China tends to dominate in hard stats; five out of the top 10 suspension bridges are there, for instance.

So instead of a China-heavy list of bridges, we've focused on a variety of categories, from covered bridges to pontoon floaters, to bring you a diverse cross section of the longest. JUST WATCHED MUST WATCH Timelapse shows largest bridge slide 00:43 From the ice roads of Arctic Alaska to a cable-stayed controversy on the other side of the Bering Strait -- stretching over cities, seas and even the jungle canopy -- the world's longest bridges exist on a scale that can only be described as stupefying. Be sure to gas up before you take them on. Longest suspension bridge span: Akashi-Kaikyo Bridge, Kobe, Japan Read More Length: 6,532 ft. Before this steel behemoth bridged the Akashi Strait that separates Kobe from Iwaya, severe storms in the area would routinely sink ferries. Not that the world's longest suspension bridge has it any easier: every day, 23,000 cars pass over a structure that must withstand earthquakes (a 7.2 magnitude earthquake hit in 1995), consistently strong tidal currents (9 knots), and wind gusts up to 179 mph.

Completed in 1998, the record-setting central span 213 feet above the sea makes up over half its total 12,831-foot length; by comparison, the Golden Gate's central span is only 4,200 feet. For an up-close-and-personal (and gut-dropping) view, bridge tours take visitors to the top of one of the towers. jb-honshi.co.jp Longest inhabited bridge: Krämerbrücke, Erfurt, Germany Length: 259 ft. Like the Old London Bridge before it and Italy's Ponte Vecchio, the fairy tale-like Krämerbrücke, or Merchant's Bridge, is a bit of European history preserved in the modern day. After a series of fires destroyed previous attempts to build a span over the Breitstrom River in the 12th and 13th centuries, a stone arch bridge was built in 1325. Eventually, 62 half-timbered houses were added on top, 32 of which survived till today and continue to be home to shopkeepers and artisans.

This multipurpose bridge has likely inspired more contemporary versions, like Zaha Hadid's 919-foot-long Bridge Pavilion in Zaragoza, Spain. erfurt-tourismus.de Longest bridge over water (continuous): Lake Pontchartrain Causeway, Louisiana Length: 23.87 miles Due to recent feats of Chinese engineering, the four-lane, 5,189-pile concrete trestle bridge north of New Orleans got demoted by Guinness World Records for world's longest bridge over water. But the change did not come without controversy, with many Pontchartrain loyalists arguing that the new winner, a 25.84-mile elevated highway-bridge-tunnel project near Qingdao, China, actually has only 16.1 miles that span the sea compared to 23.79 miles of Pontchartrain's that are over open water. Guinness compromised by bestowing a new title upon the 58-year-old causeway: Longest Bridge Over Water (Continuous). However you rank it, it's still a pulse-quickening half-hour drive.

thecauseway.us Travel photos we wish we'd taken Longest canopy walkway: Taman Negara Canopy Walkway, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia Length: 1,509 ft. Deep in the heart of the Malaysian jungle, the Taman Negara Canopy Walkway provides visitors with unparalleled views and no shortage of thrills. For a mere $1.50, adventurers can channel their inner macaque (and probably see one, too) while traversing more than a quarter mile of narrow bridges strewn between centuries-old trees, offering up-close-and-vertigo-inducing views of local flora and fauna -- 160 feet above the jungle floor. taman-negara.com Longest floating bridge: Evergreen Point Bridge, Seattle Length: 7,580 ft. Officially known as Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge (the Washington statesman who oversaw its creation in the early 1960s), this section of State Route 520 connects Seattle to its eastern suburbs via a roadway that floats atop Lake Washington on 33 football field-size pontoons.

The design was chosen due to the lake's unstable bed and the curved nature of the roadway (a common problem for the area, which would explain why the state is home to four of the five largest floating bridges in the world). The aging structure is currently being replaced by a larger, even longer, more modern floating bridge that can even accommodate a light-rail system. wsdot.wa.gov Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, State Route 520, Seattle, WA; Longest masonry arch bridge span: Pont de la Libération, Villeneuve-sur-Lot, France Length: 315 ft. Though arch bridges are still popular today, they're usually built with modern materials like steel (see: Chongqing, China's Chaotianmen Bridge, at 5,712 feet the longest arch bridge span, period). Which is a shame, considering some masonry arch bridges (brick and/or stone) are so mathematically precise, not to mention beautiful, they could stand without mortar. More than 100 years old and spanning the Lot River in southwestern France, the Pont de la Libération is made of brick and unreinforced concrete -- technically very small stones and mortar.

If it's anything like its distant cousin the Pont du Gard aqueduct, it will stand for hundreds more. Take note, China bridge barons. Longest covered bridge: The Hartland Bridge, New Brunswick, Canada Length: 1,283 ft. The bridges of Madison County have nothing on this 112-year-old National Historic Site of Canada, which became the world's longest covered bridge only after two spans were destroyed by river ice in 1920, prompting replacement and a roof (covering helps prevent rot on the central wooden trusses). Built as a private bridge by a coalition of residents desperately in need of a direct way across the Saint John River -- 3 cents for a pedestrian; 6 cents for a horse and wagon -- it's now a regional icon open to all, beloved enough to get its own Google Doodle. town.hartland.nb.ca Longest rail bridge: Danyang-Kunshan Grand Bridge, China Length: 102.4 miles Connecting Shanghai to Nanjing along the Beijing-Shanghai High-Speed Railway, this elevated viaduct was named the world's longest bridge -- period -- by Guinness World Records when it opened in 2011.

(Also on the railway, the 70.6-mile Tianjin Grand Bridge, which connects Langfang to Qingxian, is the world's second longest.) Running parallel to the Yangtze River past lowland rice paddies, most of the span acts as an elevated railway, similar to the El in Chicago, though a 5.6-mile section does act like a traditional bridge, crossing the Yangcheng Lake in Suzhou. Longest ice bridge: Beaufort Sea Road, Alaska Length: 68 miles Time, fortitude and frigid cold are the only tools needed to build an ice bridge. Made popular by the hit reality TV series Ice Road Truckers, many of these cold-temperature roadways traverse a snowy mix of land and frozen lakes. But this span over the Beaufort Sea to Alaska's northernmost oil fields is pure Arctic ice. One of the most dangerous (and unique) bridges on this list, it is also one of the only ways to service the ExxonMobil hub of Point Thomson. Longest natural bridge span: The Fairy Bridge, Guangxi, China Length: 400 ft.

Though bridges are one of the greatest examples of human engineering, they are hardly a creation unique to man: rock archways hewn by Mother Nature (usually by erosion) likely provided inspiration for our brick-and-steel masterworks. And wouldn't you know it, even in this category of bridges, China still dominates. The country is home to three of the longest natural bridge spans in the world, including the 400-foot stunner over the Buliu River near the border of Vietnam. Carved out of a limestone karst, the Fairy Bridge (Xianren Qiao) is an isolated structure accessible only by a three-hour rafting trip. naturalarches.org Washington State Facts - 50States.com Washington Facts and Trivia The state of Washington is the only state to be named after a United States president. Seattle is home to the first revolving restaurant in the 48 contiguous United States (and the second revolving restaurant in the world). Located atop the Space Needle, at a height of 500 feet above sea level, the restaurant was opened in 1961. Washington state produces more apples than any other state in the union. Washington state has more glaciers than the other 47 contiguous states combined.

Washington state's capitol building was the last state capitol building to be built with a rotunda. Everett is the site of the world's largest building, Boeing's final assembly plant Medina is the home of the United States wealthiest man, Microsoft's Bill Gates. The Northwestern most point in the contiguous U.S. is Cape Flattery on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. King county the largest county in Washington was originally named after William R. King, Vice President under Franklin Pierce; it was renamed in 1986, after civil rights leader Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Microsoft Corporation is located in Redmond. Before it became a state, the territory was called Columbia (named after the Columbia River). When it was granted statehood, the name was changed to Washington, supposedly so people wouldn't confuse it with The District of Columbia. The highest point in Washington is Mount Rainier. It was named after Peter Rainier, a British soldier who fought against the Americans in the Revolutionary War. The Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge at Evergreen Point is the longest floating bridge in the world. The bridge connects Seattle and Medina across Lake Washington. Washington is the birthplace of both Jimi Hendrix (Seattle) and Bing Crosby (Tacoma).

The oldest operating gas station in the United States is in Zillah. Washington's state insect is the Green Darner Dragonfly. The world's first soft-serve ice cream machine was located in an Olympia Dairy Queen. Starbucks, the biggest coffee chain in the world was founded in Seattle. Spokane was the smallest city in size to host a World's Fair. - 1974 The state capital is Olympia, and the largest city is Seattle. As of the 2000 census, the state population was approximately 5.9 million and the state work force numbered about 3.1 million. Residents are called "Washingtonians" (emphasis on the third syllable, pronounced as tone). Washington is bounded by the Pacific Ocean to the west; Oregon to the south (the Columbia River forming most of this border); Idaho to the east and British Columbia, Canada to the north. Puget Sound's many islands are served by the largest ferry fleet in the United States.

The forests of the Olympic Peninsula are among the rainiest places in the world and the only rainforests (such as the Hoh Rain Forest) in the continental United States The first European record of a landing on the Washington coast was by Spanish Captain Don Bruno de Heceta in 1775, on board the Santiago, part of a two-ship flotilla with the Sonora. The Lewis and Clark expedition entered the state on October 10, 1805. The first settlement in Washington was New Market (now known as Tumwater) in 1846. In 1853, Washington Territory was formed from part of Oregon Territory. Washington became the 42nd state in the United States on November 11, 1889. Early prominent industries in the state included agriculture, lumber, shipping, fishing, salmon canning and mining. By the turn of the 20th century, Aberdeen had the distinction of being "the roughest town west of the Mississippi" because of excessive gambling, violence, extreme drug use and prostitution (the city remained off-limits to military personnel into the early 1980s).

The region around eastern Puget Sound developed heavy industry during World War I and World War II, and the Boeing company became an established icon in the area. During the Great Depression, a series of hydroelectric dams were constructed along the Columbia river as part of a project to increase the production of electricity. This culminated in 1941 with the completion of the Grand Coulee Dam, the largest dam in the United States. During World War II, Seattle was the point of departure for many soldiers in the Pacific, a number of which were quartered at Golden Gardens Park. In eastern Washington the Hanford Works atomic energy plant was opened in 1943 and played a major role in the construction of the nation's atomic bombs. In 1980, the northeast face of Mount St. Helens exploded outward, destroying a large part of the top of the volcano. As of 2004, Washington's population included 631,500 foreign-born (10.3% of the state population), and an estimated 100,000 illegal aliens (1.6% of state population).

The six largest reported ancestries in Washington are: German (18.7%), English (12%), Irish (11.4%), Norwegian (6.2%), Mexican (5.6%) and Filipino (3.7%). Washington is home to many innovative Internet companies, including Amazon.com, Classmates.com, Whitepages.com, and Marchex. The percentage of non-religious people in Washington is the highest of any state, and church membership is among the lowest of all states. The state of Washington is one of only seven states that does not levy a personal income tax. Property tax was the first tax levied in the state of Washington and its collection accounts for about 30 percent of Washington's total state and local revenue. In 2004 Washington ranked first in the nation in production of red raspberries (90.0% of total U.S. production), hops (75.0%), apples (58.1%), sweet cherries (47.3%), pears (42.6%), Concord grapes (39.3%), and Niagara grapes (31.6%). There are 140 public airfields in Washington, including 16 state airports.

Washington is home to four of the five longest floating bridges in the world: the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and Homer M. Hadley Bridge over Lake Washington, and the Hood Canal Bridge connecting the Olympic and Kitsap Peninsulas. Three ships of the United States Navy, including two battleships, have been named USS Washington in honor of the state. United Airlines was originally owned by the Boeing Airplane Company. Popular games Pictionary, Pickle-ball, and Cranium were all invented in Washington. The town of Artic was to be named 'Arta' after the wife of the town founder. The application was misread and resulted in the unusual spelling of the word Artic. Thanks to: Gerald Moon, Cindy, Daniel Berman, MHus915910, Paul Dexter, Megan Moench, Phillip Buff Evergreen Point Floating Bridge | Mediander | Topics image credit Evergreen Point Floating Bridge The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, and commonly called the SR 520 Bridge or 520 Bridge, was a floating bridge in the U.S.

state of Washington that carried State Route 520 across Lake Washington from the Montlake/Union Bay district of Seattle to Medina. MORE The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, and commonly called the SR 520 Bridge or 520 Bridge, was a floating bridge in the U.S. state of Washington that carried State Route 520 across Lake Washington from the Montlake/Union Bay district of Seattle to Medina. The bridge's total length was approximately 4,750 meters (15,580 ft). Its 2,310 meters (7,580 ft) floating section was the longest floating bridge in the world until April 11, 2016, when its replacement exceeded it by 130 feet. The bridge was named for Evergreen Point, the westernmost of the three small Eastside peninsulas that SR 520 crosses. (The other two are Hunts Point and Yarrow Point.) In 1988, it was renamed for the state's 15th governor, Albert D. Rosellini, who had advocated its construction.

The existing bridge was determined to be in poor condition and a large seismic risk. Construction on a replacement began in 2012; the new bridge opened in April 2016. The original bridge was closed to traffic on April 22, 2016. Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (2016) - Wikipedia, Photos and Videos Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (2016) NEXT GO TO RESULTS [51 .. 100] WIKIPEDIA ARTICLE Jump to: navigation , search This article is about the new floating bridge that opened in 2016. For the original 1963 floating bridge, see Evergreen Point Floating Bridge . Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (2016) Viewed from the east end in Medina shortly after opening in April 2016 116 feet (35 m) (at midpoint) Design life $4.56 billion (project budget) [2] Dedicated Toll $0–$5.55 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 7,710-foot-long (2,350 m) floating span is the longest floating bridge in the world , [3] as well as the world's widest measuring 116 feet (35 m) at its midpoint. [4] The bridge opened in April 2016 and replaced another floating bridge of the same name at the site, which was 130 feet (40 m) shorter. [4] Contents Main article: Evergreen Point Floating Bridge The original Evergreen Point Floating Bridge , also named for state governor Albert D. Rosellini , opened on August 28, 1963, carrying the four-lane State Route 520 (at the time designated temporarily as the Evergreen Point branch of Primary State Highway 1 until the 1964 state highway renumbering ).

[5] The 7,578-foot-long (2,310 m) floating span consisted of 33 pontoons and cost $24.7 million to construct (equivalent to $193 million in 2017); [6] the bridge carried 4 lanes of traffic, separated by a curb that was later replaced with a simple Jersey barrier ; at the center was a drawspan that opened for large vessels traversing the lake. The original bridge would also close to traffic during sustained wind gusts of 50 miles per hour (80 km/h) or higher for more than 15 minutes. [5] Due to increased traffic to and from the rapidly growing Eastside area, bridge replacement was explored as early as 1969, when building a parallel span was explored and rejected. [7] The Eastside was also served prior to the 2016 bridge by the two Interstate 90 floating bridges completed in 1940 and 1989. [8] Planning and design[ edit ] Planning of the replacement bridge started in 1997 with a cross-lake study conducted by the state Department of Transportation.

[9] :4 The study followed several others in the late 20th century to find solutions to traffic on the SR 520 floating bridge, with most proposals rejected after heavy opposition from communities on both ends of the bridge. [10] The final environmental impact statement for the project was issued in 2011, allowing for construction of the pontoons to begin the following year. [11] Funding[ edit ] Funding was allocated to major phases of the project at different times. The western portions of the project, in the City of Seattle, were the last to be funded. [9] :7 The $4.5 billion in funding comes largely from the state gas tax earmarked for highways, tolling, and Federal highway funds. [2] In 2014, the budget for the project was increased by $250 million to cover cost overruns. [12] Design elements[ edit ] The new bridge was designed to be more stable in high winds and raised the bridge deck much higher above the surface of the lake than the old bridge.

Unlike the original floating bridge, where the road surface is directly on pontoons connected end-to-end, the new bridge featured pontoons laid north–south, perpendicular to the direction of vehicular traffic, and a road surface on a platform raised 20 feet (6.1 m) above the water. [4] Pontoons and anchors[ edit ] The floating bridge is laid atop 77 concrete pontoons that float above the water and are secured by 58 anchors to the lake bottom.

[13] Of the pontoons, 21 are longitudinal pontoons that support the deck and structure and are 360 by 75 by 28 feet (109.7 m × 22.9 m × 8.5 m) and weight 11,000 short tons (10,000 t); [4] 54 smaller supplemental pontoons, weighing 2,500 short tons (2,300 t), are used to stabilized the weight of the bridge; and two "cross" pontoons, weighing 10,100 short tons (9,200 t), are sited at each end of the floating span at transitional spans, which connect the deck to fixed bridges and approaches using hinges to move up to 24 inches (61 cm) for fluctuations in lake water levels moving the pontoons. [13] All the pontoons are designed with watertight compartments that are monitored remotely with sensors to detect leaks that could lead to catastrophic failure.

[14] The bridge's 58 anchors all feature 3-inch-thick (7.6 cm), 1,000-foot-long (300 m) steel cables and are divided into three types: 45 587-short-ton (533 t) fluke anchors used in softer soils deep in the lakebed; eight 107-short-ton (97 t) gravity anchors used in solid soils nearer to the shore; and five 10-foot-diameter (3.0 m), 79-to-92-foot-long (24 to 28 m) drilled shaft anchors used in conjunction with the gravity anchors to prevent navigation hazards. [13] [15] Bridge deck[ edit ] The bridge deck is made of 776 precast concrete sections that are elevated 20 feet (6.1 m) above the pontoons. [4] [14] Layout[ edit ] The bridge has two general purpose lanes and one high-occupancy vehicle lane (HOV lane) per direction.

It includes shoulders and a 14-foot-wide (4.3 m) pedestrian/bicycle path on the north side, unlike the 1963 bridge. [4] Congestion on the old bridge was blamed on lack of shoulders, where disabled vehicles would cause severe backups. [16] Ornamental elements include four sentinel towers rising 43 feet (13 m) above the bridge deck at the approaches, and belvederes on the north side. [4] [17] Public transportation[ edit ] Public transportation and high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) use were incorporated in the bridge design. The bridge includes HOV lanes with priority for transit. A 2008 WSDOT report included five core bus rapid transit routes proposed by Sound Transit connecting the Eastside (Kirkland, Redmond, and Bellevue) to Downtown Seattle and the University District, with a base frequency of 15 minutes, increasing up to 7 minutes at peak times.

[18] :25–30 Existing freeway transit stations (also known as "flyer stops") on the Eastside at Evergreen Point and Yarrow Point were rebuilt and moved from the freeway's shoulder to the median , accompanied by landscaped lids with parking and lawns, in 2014 for increased compatibility with the bridge's planned HOV lanes. [19] The bridge was engineered to accommodate a Link Light Rail extension with two options (both requiring 30 additional pontoons): one option would be 116 feet (35 m) in width with two lanes each direction, plus light rail; the other 150 feet (46 m) in width with three lanes each direction (HOV), plus light rail. [20] Tolling[ edit ] Electronic tolling with the " Good to Go " system on the old bridge began in 2011; tolling on the new bridge was in place from its opening in 2016.

The tolls are projected to generate $1.2 billion by 2056, used to pay off bond issues for the project as well as bridge operations and maintenance, debt service, future repairs, insurance, and deferred sales tax. [2] Construction[ edit ] New (left) and old (right) bridges in 2015 showing difference in decks: old road surface is directly on pontoons laid end-to-end, but new road surface is raised above pontoons laid perpendicular to road. The first stage of the SR 520 floating bridge replacement project was the construction of 77 concrete pontoons in 2011 and 2012 by Kiewit-General at two purpose-built facilities in Aberdeen and Tacoma . The pontoons were floated to the bridge on Lake Washington via the Lake Washington Ship Canal . [21] [22] Pontoon assembly and fastening, to form the floating bridge's deck, began in 2014 and concluded in July 2015.

[23] [24] In 2012, WSDOT identified cracks and other problems with the first batch of completed pontoons, estimating that it would cost $400 million to repair cracks and other flaws that would bring down the bridge's predicted lifespan below the desired 75 years. [25] The problems stemmed from shortcuts allegedly taken by contractors to complete pontoons to meet set deadlines; the proposed solutions to fix the pontoons included adding high-tension steel cables and post-tensioning of the concrete. [26] A floating, 660-short-ton (600 t) cofferdam was launched in November 2013 to assist in repairs of the pontoons, functioning as a portable drydock that wrapped around parts of the pontoons. [27] The repairs were made by contractors from December 2013 to June 2014 and cost a total of approximately $208 million, [28] using up the majority of the program's reserve funds.

[29] [30] As a result of the pontoon issues, the estimated opening of the bridge was pushed back from December 2014 into 2016. [26] [29] Construction of the bridge deck, beginning with the eastern approach in Medina , began in March 2012. [17] [31] In March 2015, two construction accidents on the bridge slowed construction for reevaluation of safety measures: a contractor was killed after a high fall on the east highrise; and a crane-lifted load of steel pipes swung out of control into a King County Metro bus and an overhead highway sign. [32] The bridge deck was lifted into place in August 2015, [33] and the final concrete pour was finished in October 2015, completing the bridge deck. [34] Opening[ edit ] New Evergreen Point Floating Bridge has been in use since April 2, 2016. The new bridge was dedicated on April 2, 2016, in a ceremony presided over by Governor of Washington Jay Inslee .

The ceremony also included a community marathon and walk on the bridge, and a bicycle ride hosted by the Cascade Bicycle Club on the bridge and the Interstate 5 express lanes the following day. [35] As part of the opening ceremonies, the bridge was certified as the world's longest floating bridge by Guinness World Records , at 7,708.49 feet (2,349.55 m) long; [36] the bridge took the record from the previous Evergreen Point Floating Bridge , which is 130 feet (40 m) shorter in length. [37] Traffic on the new bridge was shifted over in two stages, beginning with westbound traffic on April 11 and ending with eastbound traffic on April 25. [38] [39] Initially, the bridge will narrow from 6 lanes to 4 lanes at the end of the floating span, over 1.2 miles (1.9 km) east of the Montlake Boulevard interchange, and not be fully traversable for bicyclists and pedestrians; the new westbound approach bridge is scheduled to be open in the summer of 2017.

[40] [41] The bridge's multi-use bike and pedestrian path partially opened in July 2016, with access to the completed sections for an "out-and-back" experience. [42] Shortly after the opening of the bridge's westbound lanes, the Washington State Transportation Commission proposed increasing toll rates to introduce nighttime tolling by 2017. [43] The old bridge was planned to be decommissioned by floating away pontoons to an industrial site in Kenmore for disposal and recycling; [44] in March 2016, the city rejected the plan, citing the possible release of toxins in the pontoon's concrete. [45] The pontoons were sold to a recycling company based in Gig Harbor which plans to reuse the individual pontoons for floating decks and other projects. [46] An unaffiliated contest was held in 2012 seeking ideas for the 33 pontoons of the old bridge, with solutions ranging from a "floating High Line " to partial submersion for walking paths.

[47] The first pontoon of the old bridge to be disassembled was towed through the Lake Washington Ship Canal in July 2016. [48] References[ edit ] ^ The SR 520 Albert D. Rosellini Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (Plaque on bridge deck). Medina, Washington: Washington State Department of Transportation . April 2, 2016. Lake Washington Floating Bridge (former) - Seattle WA - Living New Deal Hello – I am a Roosevelt historian and came across your wonderful website. Writing a book about Seattle (1939-1941) and came across your websites list of New Deal projects in my home state of Washington. I did catch an error concerning the ‘Evergreen Point Floating Bridge.’ It was not this bridge but the Lake Washington Floating Bridge that was built with New Deal dollars. It was later named the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge after the Washington State Director of Highways. Lacey was the older brother of noted CBS newsman also from Washington state, Edward R. Murrow. The Evergreen Point bridge, renamed the Governor Albert D.

Rosellini Bridge, was built in the early 1960’s and opened in 1963. Seattle / Useful Notes - TV Tropes Well, we spread the word through the underground That we were the hottest new thing in town A record guy came out to see us one day And just like always, we didn't play And it knocked him out—he said he loved our work He said he loved our work but he wasn't sure if he could sell a record with nothing on it I said, "Tell him we're from Seattle" He advanced us two and a half million dollars —Todd Snider, "Talking Seattle Grunge Rock Blues" A city situated on the eastern bank of Puget Sound in the state of Washington and its surrounding metro area. Named for a 19th-century Duwamish tribal chief from the region who did not give an environmental speech often attributed to him . Home base of (or at least origin-point for) Microsoft, Nintendo of America, Valve , Starbucks, Boeingnote who have moved their headquarters to Chicago, but most of their production plants are located near Seattle, including the Everett plant, the world's largest building by volume, Amazon and several other companies of note.

The birthplace of Grunge music ( Nirvana in particular, despite not being from the city itself). Its landmarks include Pike Place Marketnote where the very first Starbucks - kinda - is located, which is still open for business and widely considered the real main tourist attraction, the Space Needle being little more than a giant tourist trap, Pioneer Square (which pre-gentrification was the original Skid Row ), the Experience Music Project note Or whatever its name is this week , a half-mile Monorail constructed for the 1962 World's Fair which exemplifies Zeerust to a tee, the Seattle Underground (which was a partial inspiration for Ankh-Morpork ), and the Space Needle, also constructed for the World's Fairnote it looks a lot bigger in pictures than in Real Life , due to the fact that it's usually photographed from Queen Anne Hill from an angle that makes it look taller than anything else in the skyline , despite being relatively short and at least a mile north of downtown. Navigation and traffic in the area are notoriously frustrating , among the top ten worst in the country. Seen as trendy and bohemian by many thanks to grunge and Frasier .

Often used in fiction as a destination for a character being sent on a very long bus ride . In media, thanks to the cheaper filming costs, Vancouver , British Columbia is often used as a stand-in for Seattle or for unidentified parts of the USA resembling Seattle, leading to the term "Seacouver" for such settings. Contrary to its treatment of other media, Seattle remains one of the major hubs of video game development in America behind the LA/San Francisco/Silicon Valley region, possessing the aforementioned Nintendo and Valve software along with numerous other developers. Until the 2014 Seahawks team and their "12th Man" fan-brigade finally broke the drought, the city trailed only Cleveland in being the Butt Monkey of the US sports world due to its spotty track record in regards to major league sports. (Five championships in the entire city's modern historynote the Seahawks, the Seattle Sounders winning the4 MLS championchip in 2016, two WNBA titles by the women's basketball team (the Seattle Storm), and one in 1980 by the NBA team that moved (Seattle Supersonics). The University of Washington Football team won between two and four national titles, depending on how one reckons such things.

Back in the day, the Rainiers baseball team won a few Pacific Coast League pennants. Even further back, the long-defunct Seattle Metropolitans won the Stanley Cup in 1917.) In recent years, the situation had been particularly grim, with even the once-powerful University of Washington Huskies NCAA football team having the worst single season record in history and the Seattle SuperSonics NBA team being spirited away to Oklahoma City. Not helping matters is the fact that the city is famous for coffee note There are jokes about Seattle having a coffee stand on every corner. The truth is that a commercially-zoned area usually had two or three per block, and even many of the gas stations will have a coffee cart for the purpose of fueling up the drivers while the drivers fuel their cars. , computers, grunge music, liberal politicsnote The Pacific Northwest used to be an IWW stronghold with the 1919 General Strike looked upon with a measure of pride.

The WTO mess of 1999 is still a contentious matter, annual May Day parades have been known to make downtown grind to a halt, three Socialist newspapers are based here, and a race between a liberal Democrat career politician and a Socialist economics professor in the 2013 elections ended with the Socialist winning by a 1100-vote margin, becoming the first Socialist elected to American public office in a century. She was re-elected two years later by a more comfortable margin. This in contrast with America's usual attitude toward anything resembling Socialism , and rainnote Frankly, though, the rain isn't much worse in the city itself than it is on most the Eastern seaboard on average (the Eastside, being farther from the rain shadow of the Olympics and closer to the Cascades, actually gets more); the Olympic Peninsula (west of Seattle), on the other hand, is part of the wettest region in the continental United States (which stretches down from the peninsula to the northern part of the Oregon coast). It's the only area (outside of AK and HI) where yearly precipitation totals >100 inches (2,540 mm), which are decidedly at odds with the interests of the typical sports fan.

The sports fans who do call the area home responded to the aforementioned pirating of their NBA franchise by latching onto Seattle Sounders FC of the MLS , and making it one of the few teams in the league to regularly sell out the stadium. CenturyLink Field (formerly Qwest Field), the home stadium to the Sounders and Seahawks, was from 2007 to 2010 true to the city's rebellious spirit by being the only stadium in the NFL to serve neither Pepsi nor Coca-Cola beverages on its grounds, having instead awarded its concession to the locally-based Jones Soda Company. The rights have since been granted to Coca-Cola, which definitely makes going to Sounders games a lot less fun. Home to the authors of the webcomic Penny Arcade , who, as the above paragraph illustrates, have difficulty understanding the Team Spirit of sports. Bruce Lee settled in Seattle and graduated with a degree in psychology from the University of Washington. He is buried at Lake View Cemetery in Capitol Hill. Is also the hometown of Sir Mix-a-Lot note actually, Tacoma is, whose song "Posse on Broadway" was based on Seattle's Capitol Hill neighborhood.

In addition to the monorail, Seattle is the hub of the largest passenger and automobile ferry fleet in the worldnote measured by number of vehicles carried. Its unique car ferries are almost always featured in media from Seattle. It's also home to the two longest floating bridges in the world: the 520 bridge, officially known as the SR 520 Albert D. Rosellini Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (which replaced the original Evergreen Point Floating Bridgenote itself officially known as the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge from 1988 until its replacement in 2016) being the absolute longest at 7,710 ft (2,350 m), and the eastbound I-90 bridge, officially known as the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, being the second-longest at 6,620 ft (2,020 m). The I-90 bridge is actually two bridges colloquially grouped together; the westbound bridge is the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, 5,811 ft (1,771 m) long, spanning Lake Washington to Mercer Island east of the city.

One carries Interstate 90, the other carries State Route 520. The third-longest floating bridge, the Hood Canal bridgenote officially William A. Bugge Bridge, and the longest floating bridge located in a saltwater tidal basin at (floating portion) 6,521 feet (1,988 m) (full length 7,869 feet (2,398 m)), is around thirty miles northwest of the first two. About half an hour to the south is the city of Tacoma (the "Tac" in SeaTac, which is a geographic area as well as the nickname for Seattle-Tacoma International Airport). It used to be a fairly industrial town, infamous for the horrible "Tacoma Aroma" produced by the city's paper mills, but has undergone revitalization in recent years due to increased port traffic, various downtown renewal projects, and an influx of consumer dollars from troops stationed at the burgeoning Joint Base Lewis-McChord, an Army/Air Force facility just to its south. Even the former site of the ASARCO smelting plant is being turned into luxury housing (why anyone would want to live over a former toxic waste site is another question).

Its most famous son is arguably the one-eyed glass artist Dale Chihuly, whose works are all over the city (from Seattle's Benaroya Hall to one of the McDonald's ). Unlike Seattle, Tacoma hosts no major league teams of its own, though the Mariners' triple-A affiliate (the Tacoma Rainiers) is regionally popular, and the Tacoma Dome (in addition to being an occasional WWE venue) has occasionally hosted Seattle's teams while their home venues were being renovated. Its other famous piece of architecture is Stadium High School , most famous for being where 10 Things I Hate About You was shot, and for looking like a castle. About 10 miles southeast of Tacoma is the smaller city of Puyallup, a local shibboleth (in case you're curious, the correct pronunciation is something like "Pew-AL-up.") The Puyallup Fair was recently renamed the Washington State Fair, to mixed reception, and regularly ranks among the ten largest fairs in the country. Just to the east of Lake Washington is "the Eastside", which covers Bellevue, Redmond, Renton, Kirkland, Issaquah, Medina, and other assorted cities and towns.

If you hear someone from this area mention the Eastside, this is what they're talking about—not Central and Eastern Washington, on the eastern side of the mountains. Fiction set in or near Seattle: Bridges – VivaBoo Seattle, WA is Home to the Longest Floating Bridge in the World The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, officially changed to the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge in 1988 ( to honor the governor who advocated the bridge’s construction) is probably the closest you’ll ever get to driving on a large body of water. It is 7,500 feet across making it the longest floating bridge in the world. The locals refer to the bridge as the “520 Bridge” as it is part of State Route 520 and goes across Lake Washington from Seattle, WA to Medina, WA. Image By Oran Viriyincy The Governor Albert D. Rosselini – Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, opened back in August 1963, is not the first floating bridge to go across Lake Washington. The first was the Lake Washington Floating Bridge built back in the 1940s as part of Route 10.

Referred to as essentially a 1.42 mile long barge, the Governor Albert D. Rosselini – Evergreen Point Floating Bridge was in fact a creative and innovative solution to the problem architects faced at the time. How were they going to get a bridge across a lake that was far too wide and deep for a traditional suspension bridge? Their solution? A floating bridge. The bridge was constructed using prestressed concrete pontoons each measuring approximately 360 feet long, 60 feet wide and 14.9 feet deep. And while a good portion of the bridge “floats” on the water, there are sections on either side that are elevated to let smaller boats and vessels pass under the bridge. There is also a drawspan, or retractable portion of the bridge, that opens by separating the middle pontoons and sliding them under the elevated sections in order to let larger vessels through. They can also be opened to relieve water pressure during storms. Now, due to the weight of reinforcements added over the years, the bridge currently sits about a foot lower than it did after its original construction.

Also, despite various retrofits, the bridge is still in danger of collapse surrounding any major seismic activity and is usually closed during high winds for safety reasons. Putting all that aside, it is still an incredible bridge, definitely worth taking a drive across…for the experience alone. The Truly Innovative Oresund Bridge (Oresundsbron) Designed to Connect Sweden and Denmark Stretching across the Oresund Straight is the truly innovative 7,845 meter (25,738 foot) Oresund Bridge or as it’s locally referred to, the Oresundsbron. For locals or tourists looking to travel between Malmo, Sweden and Copenhagen, Denmark, without having to fly, the Oresund Bridge is the route to take. Image By supermaskinen But the Oresund Bridge is more than your typical bridge, it is a 4-lane highway as well as a 2-track railway. Every day thousands and thousands of vehicles cross the bridge. Between the vehicles and the trains that travel across the bridge, it is estimated 30-35 million people travel this route every year. The Oresund Bridge is reportedly the longest road and rail bridge in all of Europe.

Interestingly enough, part of the Oresund Bridge crossing is actually a tunnel and man-made island. So needless to say, quite a bit of construction and architectural masterminding was required to built the Oresund Bridge. After about five years of construction the bridge finally opened mid-2000. On the Danish side, vehicles go through a 4 km (2.5 mile) tunnel and emerge from the tunnel to the man-made island at which point they are now at bridge level as they continue over to Sweden. You may wonder why the bridge wasn’t built the same on both sides. Well, per reports, the bridge was built with the additional tunnel and island features so it would not interrupt air traffic at the nearby airport nor shipping traffic coming through the straight in either good or bad weather. The Landmark Lions Gate Bridge in Vancouver, BC Canada Connecting the city of Vancouver, British Columbia to the North Shore (in North Vancouver) is the famous Lions Gate Bridge. Also known as the First Narrows Bridge, The Lions Gate Bridge is an articulate suspension bridge going from Stanley Park across Burrard Inlet to North and West Vancouver. The name Lions Gate is said to be named after The Lions, a pair of mountain peaks along the North Shore Mountains.

Image By ecstaticist The bridge is 1823 meters (5890 feet) in total, with a tower height of 111 meters (364 feet). It was designed with three reversible lanes, each of which are monitored by signals. The middle lane in particular changes direction based on the flow of traffic in order to ease congestion. This particular feature was installed after congestion made the bridge a nightmare to travel across. Although the idea to build a bridge at this location was brought to life as early as 1890, the bridge didn’t receive final approval and support to be built until 1933. Even after that, it took until 1937 for construction to begin. After much work and millions of dollars later, the bridge finally opened in November 1938. Then in May 1939, during a royal visit to Canada, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth presided over the official opening of the bridge. Prior to the bridge being built, ferries took people across to the North Shore. Needless to say, as the bridge continued to be used more and more, the ferries were eventually forced to close due to lack of passengers and revenue.

Different upgrades made to the bridge over the years included adding pedestrian pathways to the outside of the bridge and increasing width of the road lanes. Then in 1986, the Guinness family donated decorative lights to the city of Vancouver that would adorn the bridge and make it stand out at night as much as it stands out during the day. In March of 2005, the Lions Gate Bridge became designated as a National Historic Site of Canada. It’s easy to see why when you look at the following pictures. The Pont du Gard Aqueduct Bridge is Roman Masonry at its Finest Far more than just your typical bridge, the Pont du Gard (Roman aqueduct bridge) in southern France was once a virtual lifeline to the city of Nimes. The Pont du Gard was part of a 50 km aqueduct that ran from Uzes, at the source of the Eure, all the way to Nimes where it was one of the main sources of water to the rapidly expanding city. Image by Wolfgang Staudt The aqueduct itself was built over a span of 15 years between 40-60 AD, during the Roman Empires of Claude and Nero.

The aqueduct was truly an architectural feat in that the height difference between the source of the water and its destination in Nimes, was only a mere 12 meters. Despite that, engineers managed to build the aqueduct so that through the power of gravity alone, the water would travel from Uzes to Nimes with ease. The Pont du Gard was able to give Nimes the much sought after prestige it desired, as a result of being able to provide water to its fountains, sewage lines, spas and homes. In its prime, around 200 million liters of water per day used to travel across the Pont du Gard. The Pont du Gard is a stunning masterpiece and is recognized as the highest of all the roman aqueduct bridges. Constructed over the Gard River, the Pont du Gard consists of three levels. The lower level has 6 arches, each measuring 22 meters high. The middle level has 11 arches, each measuring 20 meters high. The third, and last, level has 35 arches (although it used to have 47), each measuring 7 meters high.

The bridge was built primarily of stone, around 54,000 tons of it, and used very few clamps or mortar. Some of the individual blocks weigh up to 6 tons each. The bridge is 49 meters high when the river it at its lowest and 274 meters long. During the 13th century, the King granted local lords the right to levy tolls on all who crossed the bridge, in exchange for them helping with the upkeep of the bridge itself. After sustaining serious damage in the 1600s, the bridge received some minor patch-ups and repairs. However, it is thought that if Napoleon III hadn’t taken a personal interest in this Roman masterpiece it would never have received much needed repairs and restoration in the mid 1800s. Since then a number of massive floods, including one that entirely submerged the lower level of the Pont du Gard, have ravaged the bridge. Thankfully due to its architectural and cultural value, it was added to UNESCO’s (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) list of World Heritage Sites in 1985 and continues to be kept up and maintained.

One look will tell you why the Pont du Gard has become one of France’s top tourist destinations and what many consider a required stop for French masons looking to study and learn about its incredible masonry. The Historic Stari Most Bridge in Mostar, Connecting Bosnia and Herzegovina The Stari Most bridge (also known as the “Old Bridge”) was originally built way back in 1566 during the height of the Ottoman Empire. It was a Turkish architect who designed the bridge, commissioned by Suleiman the Magnificant, to replace the wooden suspension bridge that had previously been built to span the Neretva River. However, Stari Most became much more than a simple bridge. Image By lassi.kurkijarvi Stari Most became a main thoroughfare and key link between the Ottoman East and the Christian West. It seemed to evolve into the heart of the city of Mostar, joining Bosnia and Herzegovina both literally and figuratively. Stari Most is approximately 4 meters (13 feet) wide and 30 meters (98 feet) long. It stands a little over 24 meters (78 feet) above the river.

The original arch of the bridge was built using a local stone called tenelija. There are no foundations on either side of the bridge, instead abutments of limestone secure the bridge to walls along the cliffs on either side of the river. There are two fortified towers or “bridge keepers”, one on either side of the bridge, to protect it. The Helebija Tower on the northeast side and the Tara Tower on the southwest side. Despite all Stari Most had seen and gone through, the Old Bridge reliably stood its ground for 427 years. It wasn’t until the Croat-Bosniak War in 1993 when the bridge became one of the many casualties of war. It was hit and damaged so badly that it fell into the river. All that remained was a shell or a mere memory of what had once been. Then even though it took a little over a decade to rebuild, the Stari Most Bridge was rebuilt and restored to its original beauty in 2004. And in order to keep with tradition and in honor of the Old Bridge, divers were able to recover some of the original stones from the river so they could be used in the reconstruction of the bridge.

These days many tourists visit Mostar and the Stari Most Bridge to see both its beauty and its historical value. Another interesting fact is that the bridge has been used, since the mid 1600s, as a place where young men would jump into the Neretva River. Since the late 1960s diving competition have been held from the bridge, as it takes a very skilled diver to dive into the shallow waters below. Needless to say, Stari Most stands today as a stunning reminder of a what once was and what still can be. It is truly a bridge from the past to the future. The Ambassador Bridge, A Vital Link Between The US and Canada The Ambassador Bridge, connecting Detroit, Michigan and Windsor, Ontario is more than a simple suspension bridge connecting two countries. It is the busiest international border crossing in all of North America. More than 25% of all merchandise trade traveling between the US and Canada crosses over the Ambassador Bridge. Additionally, the bridge isn’t owned by either the US or Canada, it is privately-owned. Image By Andrew Senay It all started shortly after World War II. Charles Fowler, a prominent NY civil engineer came up with the idea for a bridge that would link the US and Canada.

It would be able to accommodate not only street cars and trains, but cars and people as well. He even went so far as to get the support of both the Canadian and American Transit Companies. Unfortunately, his plans were considered a little too ambitious for some people. Thankfully, he had someone else who believed in his idea. John W. Austin of the Detroit Graphite Company decided the bridge needed to be built. So after meeting with Financier Joseph A. Bower, the two men came to an agreement which ultimately lead to the construction of the $23.5 million dollar, privately-financed link between the US and Canada: The Ambassador Bridge. After many barriers and even a mayoral veto on the project, the bridge finally received its approval to move forward. Construction was completed in a few short years and the bridge finally opened in November 1929. At the time it was built, it was considered the longest suspension bridge in the world at 7,490 feet long. These days over 10,000 commercial vehicles travel across the Ambassador Bridge every day. Per reports, more than $13 billion dollars a year in production depend heavily on the Ambassador Bridge as an international border crossing.

There isn’t a busier crossing in North America in terms of trade volume. A few interesting little tid-bits about the bridge: shortly after it opened many people used the bridge to perform stunts such as planes flying under it and a man parachuting off of it. It has also had its share of movie fame. You can see the Ambassador Bridge in such movies as: 8 Mile, Grosse Pointe Blank, Bowling for Columbine and Hoffa. For those planning a visit to see this key link in the international trade between the United States and Canada, be sure you see the bridge at night. The beautiful lights on the bridge’s cables can be seen for miles around and make a stunning sight.

Question: The longest floating bridge in the world, the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge is officially named after what former Washington governor?
Answer: Albert D. Rosellini