Washington State Is #1 In The World For This Unique Bridge Construction

We love being #1 in Washington State and I think you'll be surprised to discover that Washington State is  #1 in the world when it comes to bridges but not the bridges you might be thinking about.

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Can You Name All Of Washington's Floating Bridges?

An ordinary average bridge is plentiful in the world but not floating bridges and Washington State is #1 when it comes to these unique bridges and their designs.

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Why Did Washington State Build All Of The Floating Bridges?

There is a reason why we have floating bridges in Washington and the reasons are deep waters, a lake bed made up of soft clay and mud. The floating bridges are built upon "pontoons" to overcome these obstacles in and around the Seattle area and Lake Washington.

Washington State has four of the five longest floating bridges in the world.

Can you name them?

The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also known as the 520 Bridge and officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge is the longest floating bridge in the world measuring an astonishing 7,710-foot-long (2,350 m). It opened in 2016 and replaced a shorter floating bridge of the same name built back in 1963.

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The Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge (I-90) is the second-longest floating bridge in the world at 6,620 ft (2,020 m).

It might be the floating bridge that you are most familiar with because it connects Seattle and Bellevue and is most likely the bridge you take when you travel from Eastern Washington. The original bridge opened in 1940.

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The Hood Canal Bridge (officially William A. Bugge Bridge) is the third-longest floating bridge in the world measuring 7,869 feet (1.490 mi; 2.398 km) in length.

The Hood Canal Bridge connects Olympia and the Kitsap Peninsula on State Route 104. The Hood Canal Bridge was completed in 1961.

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The Third Lake Washington Bridge, officially the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge is the fifth-longest floating bridge of its kind in the world.

You've no doubt been on this bridge before because it makes up part of the I-90 duo of floating bridges that includes The Lacey V. Murrow Bridge right next to it. The Third Lake Washington Bridge measures 5,811 feet (1,772 m). It opened in 1989.

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No matter which way you slice it, Washington State is #1 when it comes to the number and length of floating bridges in the world and it does make you a little more appreciative of these amazing unique wonders of engineering that exist here in Washington State.

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