- Lake Washington Ship Canal
Infobox_nrhp | name =Chittenden Locks and Lake Washington Ship Canal
nrhp_type =
caption =
location= Salmon Bay,Seattle, Washington
area =
built =1906
architect= Multiple
architecture= Late 19th And 20th Century Revivals, Other
added =December 14 ,1978
governing_body = ARMY CORPS OF ENGINEERS
refnum=78002751 cite web|url=http://www.nr.nps.gov/|title=National Register Information System|date=2007-01-23|work=National Register of Historic Places|publisher=National Park Service]The Lake Washington Ship Canal, which runs through
Seattle, Washington connectingLake Washington toPuget Sound , is a system consisting of, from east to west, Union Bay, theMontlake Cut ,Portage Bay ,Lake Union , theFremont Cut ,Salmon Bay , theHiram M. Chittenden Locks , andShilshole Bay . Started in 1911, the canal was officially completed in 1934, though the Locks had opened 17 years earlier.As early as 1854 there had been talk of building a navigable connection between the two bodies of water. Thirteen years later the U.S. Navy gave its endorsement to this idea, with a view to possibly building the
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard onLake Washington , but nothing was built in time to prevent their placing it at Bremerton, on the other side of the Sound, instead.In 1891 the
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers gave its backing to the project. Some preliminary work began in 1906, and work began in earnest five years later. In 1916 the water level ofLake Washington dropped by nearly unit_ft|9|0 when theMontlake Cut was completed, replacing the Black River as the lake's outlet in favor ofPortage Bay andLake Union . With the opening of the Locks onMay 8 ,1917 , there was finally a navigable passage from the lake to the sound.The Canal's crossings, from east to west, are:
* theMontlake Bridge carryingMontlake Boulevard over theMontlake Cut ,
* the University Bridge carryingEastlake Avenue overPortage Bay ,
* theShip Canal Bridge carrying Interstate 5 overPortage Bay ,
* theGeorge Washington Memorial Bridge (commonly called theAurora Bridge ) carrying Aurora Avenue N. (State Route 99) over the west end ofLake Union ,
* the Fremont Bridge connecting 4th Avenue N. to Fremont Avenue N. over theFremont Cut ,
* theBallard Bridge carrying 15th Avenue overSalmon Bay ,
* theBNSF Railway 'sSalmon Bay Bridge overSalmon Bay .The Lake Washington Ship Canal and the
Hiram M. Chittenden Locks are listed on theNational Register of Historic Places . TheMontlake Cut , along with theMontlake Bridge is aCity of Seattle Designated Landmark (ID #107995). [ [https://www.cityofseattle.gov/neighborhoods/preservation/m.htm Landmarks Alphabetical Listing for M] , Individual Landmarks, Department of Neighborhoods, City of Seattle. Accessed28 December 2007 .]Notes
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