Aurora Bridge
| Aurora Bridge | |
|---|---|
The main span of the bridge, looking west. The suspended truss is visible at the center of the cantilever arch structures
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| Carries |
 SR 99 (Aurora Avenue North) |
| Crosses | Lake Union |
| Locale | Seattle, Washington |
| Official name | George Washington Memorial Bridge |
| Maintained by | Washington State DOT |
| ID number | 0001447A0000000 |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Mixed, cantilever and truss |
| Total length | 2,945 ft (898 m) |
| Width | 70 ft (21 m) |
| Longest span | 475 ft (145 m) |
| Clearance below | 167 ft (51 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | February 22, 1932 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic |
71,000 (2007) |
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Aurora Avenue Bridge
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| Location | Aurora Ave., N. over Lake Washington Ship Canal, Seattle, Washington |
| Coordinates | 47°38′47″N 122°20′51″W / 47.64639°N 122.34750°WCoordinates: 47°38′47″N 122°20′51″W / 47.64639°N 122.34750°W |
| Built | 1931–32 |
| Built by | U.S. Steel Products Corp. |
| Architect | Jacobs & Ober |
| MPS | Historic Bridges/Tunnels in Washington State TR |
| NRHP Reference # | 82004230 |
| Added to NRHP | July 16, 1982 |
71,000 (2007)
The Aurora Bridge (officially called the George Washington Memorial Bridge) is a cantilever and truss bridge that carries State Route 99 (Aurora Avenue North) over the west end of Seattle's Lake Union and connects Queen Anne and Fremont. The bridge is located just east of the Fremont Cut, which itself is spanned by the Fremont Bridge.
The bridge is 2,945 ft (898 m) long, 70 ft (21 m) wide, and 167 ft (51 m) above the water, and is owned and operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation. The bridge was opened to traffic on February 22, 1932. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The bridge is a popular location for suicide jumpers and numerous reports have used the bridge as a case study in fields ranging from suicide prevention to the effects of prehospital care on trauma victims.
In 1998, a bus driver was shot and killed while driving over the bridge, causing his bus to crash and resulting in the death of one of the passengers. In 2015, five people were killed and fifty were injured when an amphibious "duck tour" vehicle crashed into a charter bus on the bridge in an accident that also involved two smaller vehicles.
The bridge is 2,945 ft (898 m) long, 70 ft (21 m) wide, 167 ft (51 m) above the water and is owned and operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation. There are two v-shaped cantilever sections supporting the bridge deck, each 325 ft (99 m) long, balanced on large concrete pilings at opposite sides of the ship canal which serve as the two main supporting anchors. Some 828 timber piles were driven for the foundation of the south anchor and 684 piles for the north. They range in size from 110 to 120 feet (34 to 37 m) and rest 50 to 55 feet (15 to 17 m) below the surface of the water. Together, the anchors support a load of 8,000 tons. Their construction required a pile driver that was specially designed to work underwater.
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