Evergreen Point Floating Bridge
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The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge--Evergreen Point, is the longest floating bridge in the world at 7,578 feet (2,310 meters). It carries Washington State Route 520 across Lake Washington from Seattle to Medina.
Built as a four-lane toll bridge in 1963, it was the second bridge to cross Lake Washington and provided easy access from Seattle to Eastside communities such as Bellevue, Kirkland, and Redmond. Tolls were lifted in 1979, and in 1988 the bridge was named for Rosellini, who had pushed for its construction.
Today the bridge is near the end of its useful life, according to the state Department of Transportation. The bridge must be closed in high winds, and even after a seismic retrofit in 1999, it is at risk of collapse in an earthquake. The DOT is looking at replacing the aging bridge with a new span of four to eight lanes.
The bridge is anchored by a large number of high-strength cables. According to an interview conducted by local newspapers, a severe storm during the bridge's lifespan came within strands of breaking some of these cables, which would have resulted in the catastrophic destruction of the bridge. Since then, additional cables have been added, and much of the bridge has been replaced with lighter weight materials, but the danger remains. The bridge was originally designed to stand up to a 100-year storm, but the assumptions used actually reflected what is now considered to be a 20-year storm for the Seattle area.