Fremont Bridge (Seattle)

Fremont Bridge
The Fremont Bridge from the George Washington Memorial Bridge
Carries	Fremont Avenue N
Crosses	Fremont Cut
Locale	Seattle, Washington
Maintained by	Washington State DOT
Characteristics
Design	bascule
Total length	502 feet (153 m)
Longest span	242 feet (74 m)
Clearance below	30 feet (9.1 m)
History
Opened	July 15, 1917
Seattle Landmark
Designated	December 28, 1981
Fremont Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Spans Lake Washington Ship Canal, Seattle, Washington
Coordinates
Area	less than one acre
Built	1917 (1917)
MPS	Historic Bridges/Tunnels in Washington State TR
NRHP Reference #	82004234
Added to NRHP	July 16, 1982

File:Fremont Bascule Bridge 10x.ogv

Opening and closing at 10x speed.

The Fremont Bridge at the opening of the Lake Washington Ship Canal, July 4, 1917

The Fremont Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge that spans the Fremont Cut in Seattle, Washington. The bridge, which connects Fremont Avenue North and 4th Avenue North, connects the neighborhoods of Fremont and Queen Anne.

The Fremont Bridge was opened on Friday June 15, 1917, at a cost of $410,000. The first traffic over the bridge was to "owl cars", the last run of the trolleys, and then after 5am the same day to all other traffic. The Lake Washington Ship Canal was dedicated on July 4, 1917, which has caused confusion about the opening date, for this bridge crosses the canal. The Fremont Bridge is the first of four city bascules to cross the canal, the others being Ballard Bridge (1917), University Bridge (1919), and Montlake Bridge (1925). The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, and is also a designated city landmark, ID #110347.

Due to its low vessel clearance of 30 feet (9.1 m), the Fremont Bridge opens an average of 35 times a day, which makes it the most frequently opened drawbridge in the United States and one of the busiest bascule bridges in the world. Federal law gives marine traffic the right-of-way over vehicular traffic, however the Fremont Bridge is closed to most water traffic during rush hours.

The bridge's blue and orange color was chosen by voters at a 1985 street fair.

In 2006, the Fremont Bridge underwent a $41.9 million restoration project to replace the approaches and maintenance shop, as well as renovation of the mechanical and electrical systems that operate the bascule. The approaches were completed in May 2007 and testing lasted through the Spring of 2008. In 2014 the city began repainting the bridge.

External links

• William C. Ruegnitz Papers. 1906-1944. 1.68 cubic feet (5 boxes). At the Labor Archives of Washington, University of Washington Libraries Special Collections. Contains details about the location, list of materials and their estimated cost of the Fremont Bridge.