George Washington Memorial Bridge
Coordinates: 47 ° 38 ′ 47 " N , 122 ° 20 ′ 50" W.
 Aurora Bridge
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| Official name | George Washington Memorial Bridge | |
| use | Aurora Avenue N. ( SR 99 ) | |
| Crossing of | Lake Union | |
| place | Seattle ( Washington ) | |
| Entertained by | WSDOT | |
| Building number | 99/560 | |
| overall length | 889 m | |
| width | 21 m | |
| height | 51 m | |
| Headroom | 46 m | |
| vehicles per day | 71,000 (2007) | |
| opening | February 22, 1932 | |
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The George Washington Memorial Bridge (usually Aurora Bridge called) is a Gerber beam - and truss bridge in Seattle in the US state of Washington . It connects the two districts of Queen Anne and Fremont and spans Lake Union . It is 889 m long and 21 m wide. On July 16, 1982, she was added to the National Register of Historic Places .
history
Construction of the bridge piers began in 1929. Construction of the bridge followed shortly thereafter in 1931 and the opening was on February 22, 1932, the 200th birthday of George Washington . The bridge was opened to traffic on the same day.
The bridge was the last link on the Pacific Highway from Canada to Mexico. In contrast to earlier bridges, no drawbridge was necessary due to their height . The bridge was funded by the City of Seattle, King County and Washington State.
In late 1990, the Fremont Troll , a large cement sculpture of a troll clutching a real VW Beetle , was installed under the bridge .
On November 27, 1998, Mark McLaughlin, the driver of a bus on line 359 of the urban transport company Metro Transit , was shot dead by passenger Silas Cool while the bus was crossing the bridge. Cool then shot himself and the bus crossed two lanes and fell from the bridge onto a building. Another passenger later died as a result of injuries sustained in the fall. The line number 359 was then changed to 358.
The north pillar of the bridge
A 358 bus crosses the bridge
Suicides
The bridge is the scene of numerous suicides . There have been more than 230 fatal jumps from the bridge since it was built. The first suicide occurred in January 1932 when a shoe seller jumped off the bridge before construction was completed.
Numerous reports address the prevalence of suicide, including case studies on suicide prevention. The Lake Union Review , a supplement to the now defunct Seattle Press , published a detailed report on the physics of a suicide from the bridge in 2000.
Despite the strength of the impact, some people survive falling from the bridge, but not without serious injury.
In December 2006, six emergency phones and 18 notice boards were posted on the bridge to encourage people to seek help. In 2007, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire provided US $ 1.4 million to build a six foot fence to help reduce suicides.
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ NRHP Washington State Historic Highway Bridges. (PDF; 77 kB) (No longer available online.) WSDOT, March 21, 2013, archived from the original on December 2, 2013 ; accessed on November 26, 2013 (English). Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.
- ↑ a b Priscilla Long: Seattle's George Washington Memorial Bridge (Aurora Bridge) is dedicated on February 22, 1932. . HistoryLink. March 14, 2003. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
- ^ Rider Shoots Driver; 2 Dead, Dozens Hurt - Bus Careens Off Bridge - Murder-Suicide A Possibility . The Seattle Times. November 28, 1998. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
- ↑ Chris Solomon: Victim Was Trying 'To Make A Difference' - Herman Liebelt Had Varied Interests, Causes . In: The Seattle Times , November 29, 1998. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
- ↑ City hopes to dissuade suicidal jumpers , Seattle Post-Intelligencer. October 2, 2006. Accessed May 1, 2009.
- ↑ Charles Mudede: JUMPERS , The Stranger. April 19, 2000. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
- ↑ Woman survives jump from Aurora Bridge , The Seattle Times. September 30, 2007. Accessed May 1, 2009.
- ^ Life After The Fall , Seattle Post-Intelligencer. March 5, 1996. Retrieved May 1, 2009.
- ↑ Donna Gordon Blankinship: Money for fence to cut Aurora Bridge suicides , Associated Press . December 19, 2007. Accessed May 1, 2008.
