Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (1963)
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, connecting Medina with the Montlake/Union Bay district of Seattle.
Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (1963) | |
|---|---|
The bridge in 2009. Column-supported high-rises near the ends of the bridge are connected by a floating section. | |
| Coordinates | 47°38′26″N 122°15′36″W |
| Carries | 4 lanes of SR 520 |
| Crosses | Lake Washington |
| Locale | Seattle to Medina (Washington, U.S.) |
| Official name | Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge |
| Maintained by | Washington State Department of Transportation |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Pontoon bridge with movable midsections |
| Total length | 7,578 feet (2,310 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | August 28, 1963 |
| Closed | April 22, 2016 |
| Replaced by | Evergreen Point Floating Bridge replacement (2016) |
| Location | |
The bridge's total length was approximately 15,580 feet (4,750 m). Its 7,578-foot (2,310 m) floating section was the longest floating bridge in the world until April 11, 2016, when its replacement exceeded it by 130 feet (40 m).
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.
Although there were plans to replace the bridge several years following its completion, it was not until much later that investigations revealed the aging bridge to be in poor condition and unable to withstand the major hazards for which it was originally designed. This finding may have accelerated plans to finally replace it. In response to these hazards and the need to expand the current infrastructure, 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.