Wallace Equipment Company (steel fabrication and erection)
Engineer
J. D. Blackwell, A. Munster, D. W. McMorris
MPS
Historic Bridges/Tunnels in Washington State TR
NRHP reference No.
82004242[1]
Significant dates
Added to NRHP
July 16, 1982
Designated SEATL
December 13, 1979[2]
Location
The Montlake Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge that carries State Route 513 (Montlake Boulevard) over Seattle's Montlake Cut—part of the Lake Washington Ship Canal—connecting Montlake and the University District.
It is the easternmost bridge spanning the canal. The bridge is 344 feet (105 m) long, and was designed by Carl F. Gould, one of the original architects of the University of Washington campus. The bridge and its control towers were designed in conjunction with the university's Collegiate Gothic style. It provides a clearance of 46 feet (14 m)[3] and is reported as providing 48 feet (15 m) of vertical clearance above the mean regulated level of Lake Washington for the central 100 feet (30 m) of the bascule span.[4] It is one of four original bascule-type drawbridges over the Ship Canal, the others being the Ballard, Fremont, and University bridges. It was the last one to be completed, has the highest clearance of the four, and is the only one that is part of the state highway system. It is also one of six bascule bridges based on a design derived from the Chicago bascule bridge, but is unique because of its trunnion supports, employed to avoid a patent infringement lawsuit by the Strauss Bascule Bridge Company.
East side of the bridge as seen from Lake Washington.
Piers and abutments for a permanent bridge were built in 1914 as part of construction for the Ship Canal, but a serious proposal for a bridge at Montlake didn't come until 1916.[5] The first bridge in its place was a makeshift walkway made from a series of barges, set up by graduate manager Dar Meisnest to allow football fans to cross for the Washington/Dartmouth game in 1920. The temporary bridge was so heavily traveled, it demonstrated the need for a permanent structure,[6] which was finished in June 1925. The permanent bridge was opened on June 27, 1925, a month ahead of schedule and as the centerpiece for a local parade that drew thousands of residents.[7]
The south side of the Montlake Bridge fully open
A report from 1993 states that the Montlake Bridge averaged a volume of 60,900 vehicles each weekday,[8] while another report from 2001 puts normal weekend traffic across the bridge at about 40,000 vehicles each day.[4] In addition to the vehicular traffic, the bridge conveys pedestrians and bicyclists across the canal by way of sidewalks on each side of the roadway. The bridge does not open during morning and evening rush hours. It opens at designated times (usually on the hour and half-hour) during the hours just prior to and after rush periods, and on demand at other times. The bridge openings last for an average of four minutes from when traffic stops to when it resumes again.[9] Most of the openings are for sailboats, as most of the tugs that operate this far east are able to pass under the bridge in its closed position. The bridge creates a bottleneck for traffic heading to and from State Route 520 (SR-520), and the creation of alternate routes has been proposed multiple times over the years. Traffic can become backed up for more than a mile when the bridge is open, as can be seen in aerial photographs.[10] Plans to replace SR-520 include adding a second bascule bridge across the Montlake Cut next to the current Montlake Bridge.[11]
^"National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^"Landmarks and Designation". City of Seattle. Retrieved 2013-03-04.
^Home > Missions > Civil Works > Locks and Dams > Chittenden Locks > Boater Information, Seattle District US Army Corps of Engineers
^ ab"Drawbridge Operations Regulations; Lake Washington Ship Canal, WA".
^Montlake History by Jim Gould Archived 2005-07-20 at the Wayback Machine
^News: Historic Gearheads Tour (Seattle Weekly)[permanent dead link]
^Caldbick, John (September 30, 2012). "Seattle's Montlake Bridge spanning Montlake Cut opens on June 27, 1925". HistoryLink. Retrieved May 30, 2019.
^110 Wn. App. 731, MONTLAKE CMTY. CLUB v. HEARINGS BD Archived 2013-04-15 at archive.today
^"Bridges and Roadway Structures: Bridge Openings. Seattle Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 3, 2017.
^Aerial image from USGS via Microsoft Research Maps
^SR-520 Bridge Program: I-5 to Medina Project Design
The MontlakeBridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge that carries State Route 513 (Montlake Boulevard) over Seattle's Montlake Cut—part of the Lake Washington...
Lake Union, to the west. It is spanned by the MontlakeBridge, a bascule drawbridge carrying Montlake Boulevard (State Route 513). Most of the land on...
County. The highway travels north as Montlake Boulevard from an interchange with SR 520 and over the MontlakeBridge to the University of Washington campus...
connected with Union Bay—a part of Lake Washington—by the Montlake Cut, over which spans the MontlakeBridge carrying State Route 513. To the north is the campus...
under the canal the MontlakeBridge carrying State Route 513 (Montlake Boulevard NE) over the Montlake Cut the University Bridge carrying Eastlake Avenue...
520 from Seattle's Montlake neighborhood to Medina while the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and the Third Lake Washington Bridge (officially the Homer...
afternoon. Other nearby bridges include University Bridge, MontlakeBridge, and George Washington Memorial Bridge (the Aurora Ave. bridge). Transport portal...
completed in 1917, followed by the University Bridge in 1919, and MontlakeBridge in 1925. The University Bridge was improved in 1932, and in 1934 the Lake...
course in Union Bay while thousands line both sides of Montlake Cut and stand on MontlakeBridge (closed to vehicular traffic the opening day of racing)...
Kit (March 5, 2003). "First trains cross the Northern Pacific Railroad bridge spanning the Columbia River between Pasco and Kennewick on December 3, 1887"...
third phase is a planned second bascule bridge over the Montlake Cut that parallels the existing MontlakeBridge to increase vehicular capacity. The SR 520...
Canal system, water flows into the lake from Lake Washington through the Montlake Cut, and out via the Fremont Cut on its way to Puget Sound. Before construction...
The Aurora Bridge (officially called the George Washington Memorial Bridge) is a cantilever and truss bridge in Seattle, Washington, United States. It...
Tennessee. Berkley Bridge, Norfolk, Virginia First Avenue South Bridge, Seattle, Washington MontlakeBridge, Seattle, Washington University Bridge, Seattle, Washington...
bascule bridges crossing the Ship Canal are the oldest still used in the city, having opened between 1917 and 1930. The easternmost—the Montlake and University...
replacement of the Portage Bay bridge and Montlake Boulevard interchange, is scheduled to be completed in 2031. In April 2017, the bridge project was awarded the...
connected to East Montlake Park by the 1971 Montlake Cut Waterside Trail, which runs along the cut and passes under the MontlakeBridge. The park was acquired...
East Montlake Park is a park in the Montlake neighborhood of Seattle, Washington, USA. The park is bounded on the north by the Montlake Cut, on the east...
The Salmon Bay Bridge, also known as Bridge 6.3 on the BNSF railroad, formerly Bridge No. 4 on the Great Northern Railroad, is a Strauss Heel-trunnion...
a dam. East of the locks, Salmon Bay is spanned by the Ballard Bridge, a bascule bridge that carries 15th Avenue traffic between Ballard and Interbay;...
The Ballard Bridge, also known as the 15th Avenue Bridge, is a double-leaf bascule bridge in Seattle, Washington. It carries 15th Avenue NW over Seattle's...
were completed in 1917, the Fremont Cut’s eastern end near the Fremont Bridge was separated from Lake Union by a low wooden dam, a small wooden lock,...
level, before turning northward in the Montlake neighborhood. The tunnel passes 15 feet (4.6 m) under the Montlake Cut while climbing a 4.5% grade to end...
Montlake Cut Landforms Lake Washington Portage Bay Lake Union Salmon Bay Shilshole Bay Puget Sound Crossings University Link tunnel MontlakeBridge University...
Montlake Cut Landforms Lake Washington Portage Bay Lake Union Salmon Bay Shilshole Bay Puget Sound Crossings University Link tunnel MontlakeBridge University...
Global Information
SR 513 (Montlake Boulevard)
