‘The biggest thing afloat’: 33 years since collapse of Lake Washington Floating Bridge

SEATTLE — On November 25, 1990, the Lacey V. Murrow Bridge plummeted into the mud beneath Lake Washington, according to History Link.org.

Due to unusual wind and rainfall, concrete structures were weakened enough to crack the bridge and begin the collapse.

Officials discovered that hatchways into the concrete pontoons had been left open, allowing the structure to sink and break apart.

The bridge was known to have been decaying for decades and in 1989, it was ordered to be fixed. Crews were ordered to cut six-foot-high holes into the hollow concrete pontoons to get access that Saturday night prior to the incident.

When workers returned on Sunday morning, the pontoons were almost entirely submerged. Crews tried to save the bridge by pumping out the water, but it was too late.

Since it took time for the bridge to completely crack, the collapse was able to be captured by local TV news stations.

By the time the sun had set on that post-Thanksgiving weekend, the bridge that connected Seattle, Mercer Island, and Bellevue was gone.

At the time of the bridge’s opening in 1940,  planners had originally expected the bridge to carry no more than 2,000 people a day, however, more than 5,000 people began using the bridge on a daily basis.

The Seattle Times called the bridge “the biggest thing afloat”. On the day the bridge opened, Governor Clarence Martin referred to the structure as “original, distinctive, striking and graceful -- a product of this great state’s vision and constructive spirit.”

The bridge was completely rebuilt and reopened in 1993.

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