The first I-90 floating bridge, as photographed in 1940. Credit: Washington State Archives, used with permission

A photo from a time (1940) when a floating bridge was a triumph:

The first I-90 floating bridge, as photographed in 1940.

  • Washington State Archives, used with permission
  • The first I-90 floating bridge, as photographed in 1940.

Known as the Lacey V. Murrow Bridge, it was the largest and longest floating bridge ever built at that time, and it was the first to be built with reinforced concrete… When it opened, the bridge represented one of “engineering’s greatest triumphs,” in the same category as Boulder Dam and the Golden Gate Bridge.

It’s hard to be a floating bridge these days.

Eli Sanders was The Stranger's associate editor. His book, "While the City Slept," was a finalist for the Washington State Book Award and the Dayton Literary Peace Prize. He once did this and once won...

4 replies on “Speaking of Floating Bridges”

  2. My neighbors and my family sat on lawn chairs on the hill above the bridge drinking wine as we watched the pontoons slip beneath the waves. It was sad to see the great bridge go down.

  3. The I-90 floating bridge and the Mount Baker tunnel were designated as a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark last year. Not only was the bridge the largest floating structure in the world when it was built, the Mount Baker tunnel was the largest diameter soft bore-earth tunnels at the time.

    Just sayin.

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