George Washington Memorial Bridge

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name = Aurora Bridge


caption = The main span of the bridge, looking west. The suspended truss is visible at the center of the cantilever arch structures
official_name = George Washington Memorial Bridge
carries = Aurora Avenue N. (SR 99)
crosses = Lake Union
locale = Seattle, Washington
maint = Washington State DOT
id = 0001447A0000000
design = Mixed, cantilever and truss
mainspan = convert|475|ft|m|abbr=on
length = convert|2945|ft|m|abbr=on
width = convert|70|ft|m|abbr=on
height =
clearance =
below = convert|167|ft|m|abbr=on
traffic = 71,000 (2007)cite web |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/mapsdata/tdo/PDF_and_ZIP_Files/Annual_Traffic_Report_2007.pdf |format=PDF |title=2007 Annual Traffic Report |publisher=Transportation Data Office, Washington State Department of Transportation |pages=pp.125 |date=2008 |accessdate=2008-09-08]
open = February 22, 1932
closed =
toll =
map_cue =
map_

map_text =
map_width =
coordinates = coord|47|38|47|N|122|20|50|W|region:US_type:landmark
lat=
long=The George Washington Memorial Bridge (commonly called the Aurora Bridge) is a cantilever and truss bridge that carries Aurora Avenue N. (State Route 99) over the west end of Seattle's Lake Union between Queen Anne and Fremont, just east of the Fremont Cut. The bridge is convert|2945|ft|m|abbr=on long, convert|70|ft|m|abbr=on wide, and convert|167|ft|m|abbr=on above the water, and is owned and operated by the Washington State Department of Transportation.

The bridge was opened to traffic on February 27, 1932. It was accepted to 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.

Design

The bridge is convert|2945|ft|m|abbr=on long, convert|70|ft|m|abbr=on wide, convert|167|ft|m|abbr=on 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 convert|325|ft|m|abbr=on 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 convert|110|to|120|ft|m|0 and rest convert|50|to|55|ft|m|0 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.

A convert|150|ft|m|abbr=on long Warren truss suspended span connects the two cantilevers in the middle. The bridge's main span is convert|475|ft|m|abbr=on long. At either end of the bridge there are additional Warren truss spans which connect the cantilevered spans to the highway.cite book |author=Paul Dorpat |coauthors= Genevieve McCoy |title= Building Washington: A History of Washington State Public Works |year= 1998 |publisher= Tartu Publications |isbn= 0-9614357-9-8 |pages= pp. 117]

History

Construction on the bridge piers began in 1929, with construction of the bridge following shortly afterwards in 1931, with its dedication held on February 22, 1932, George Washington's 200th birthday.cite web
author=Priscilla Long
title=Seattle's George Washington Memorial Bridge (Aurora Bridge) is dedicated on February 22, 1932.
url=http://www.historylink.org/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=5418
publisher=HistoryLink
date=2003-03-14
accessdate=2007-10-20] It opened to traffic the same day.

The bridge was the final link in what was then called the Pacific Highway (today's U.S. Route 99), which ran from Canada to Mexico. The bridge crosses the Lake Union section of the Lake Washington Ship Canal and, unlike earlier bridges across the canal, the height of the Aurora Bridge eliminated the need for a drawbridge. The Seattle City Council voted to build connecting portions of the highway through the Woodland Park Zoo, a decision which generated considerable controversy at the time.cite web |url=http://historyink.com/index.cfm?DisplayPage=output.cfm&file_id=8093 |title=Seattle City Council votes to build Aurora Avenue through Woodland Park on June 30, 1930 |author=Kit Oldham |publisher=HistoryLink |date=2007-02-17 |accessdate=2008-09-07]

It was designed by the Seattle architectural firm Jacobs & Ober, with Ralph Ober as the lead engineer on the project. Ober died in August, 1931, of a brain hemorrhage while the bridge was still under construction. [cite web
url=http://www.pacificpublishingcompany.com/site/tab8.cfm?newsid=17697533&BRD=855&PAG=461&dept_id=515218&rfi=6
title=The draw of the Aurora Bridge: Despite popular belief,the Aurora Bridge isn't prone to heartbreaking situations
publisher=Pacific Publishing Company
author=Kirby Lindsay
accessdate=2007-10-20
date=2007-01-11] Federal funding programs were not yet available, so the bridge was funded by Seattle, King County, and the state of Washington.

The bridge was nominated for the National Register of Historic Places on January 2, 1980 for its "functional and aesthetic" design qualities and for its historical status as the first bridge constructed in the region without streetcar tracks.cite web |author = Elizabeth Atly |coauthors = Lisa Soderberg | title = National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form | year = 1982 | pages = 4 | publisher = National Parks Service | url = http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/
] It was accepted to the National Register on July 16, 1982.

A local landmark, the Fremont Troll—a large cement sculpture of a troll clutching a real-life Volkswagen Beetle—was installed under the bridge's north end in 1990.cite news |url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19901210&slug=1108785 |title=Monstrous New Fun In Fremont |publisher=The Seattle Times |author=Constantine Angelos |date=1990-12-10 |accessdate=2008-08-21] Up to half of the $40,000 cost for the artwork was donated from Seattle's Neighborhood Matching Fund, a local program to raise money for community projects.cite news |url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19910924&slug=1307293 |title=Neighborhood Improvement Program - A Home-Grown Idea Wins National Applause |publisher=The Seattle Times |date=1991-09-24 |accessdate=2008-08-21] cite news |url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/archives/1992/9204020096.asp |title=Troll-lific:Gnomes are multiplying |publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer |author=Cecilia Goodnow |date=1992-04-02 |accessdate=2008-08-21] The sculpture was heavily vandalized in the year following its construction and large floodlights were installed on the bridge to discourage further damage.cite news |url=http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=19910305&slug=1269886 |title=Fremont Troll Gets The Light Of His Life |publisher=The Seattle Times |date=1991-03-05 |accessdate=2008-08-21]

Following the collapse of the I-35 cantilever bridge on August 1, 2007, the Washington State Department of Transportation was directed to perform inspections of all steel cantilever bridges in the state that used gusset plates in their design, including the George Washington Memorial Bridge.cite web |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Accountability/GussetPlates.htm |title=Washington State Bridge Construction Practices and Gusset Plates |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |date=2007 |accessdate=2007-12-03] The bridge had earlier been certified as structurally sound with no serious deficiencies detected.cite web |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/publications/fulltext/bridges.pdf |format=PDF| title=2007 Annual Bridge Update |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |date=2007-06-30 |accessdate=2007-12-03]

In 2007, the Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory found the bridge to be "functionally obsolete".cite web|url= http://nationalbridges.com/nbi_record.php?StateCode=53&struct=0001447A0000000 | title = Place Name: Seattle, Washington; NBI Structure Number: 0001447A0000000 ; Facility Carried: SR 99; Feature Intersected: Aurora Avenue, Lake Union |author = Federal Highway Administration National Bridge Inventory |date=2007 |publisher =Nationalbridges.com (Alexander Svirsky) |accessdate = 2008-09-06 "Note": this is a formatted scrape of the 2007 official website, which can be found here for Washington: cite web| url = http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/bridge/nbi/2007/WA07.txt |title = WA07.txt |date = 2007 | publisher = Federal Highway Administration |accessdate = 2008-09-08] The bridge was given a sufficiency rating of 55.2% and evaluated to be "better than minimum adequacy to tolerate being left in place as is". Its foundations and railings met the acceptable standards and no immediate corrective action was needed to improve it.

uicides

The bridge's height and pedestrian access make it a popular location for suicide jumpers. Since construction, there have been over 230 completed suicides from the bridge, with nearly 50 deaths occurring in the past decade. The first suicide occurred in January 1932, when a shoe salesman leapt from the bridge before it was completed.cite news |url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/local/287230_jumpers02.html
title=City hopes to dissuade suicidal jumpers
publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer
accessdate=2007-10-20
date=2006-10-02]

Numerous reports have been written about the high incidence of suicide on the bridge, many of them using the bridge as a case study in fields ranging from suicide prevention to the effects of prehospital care on trauma victims. [cite journal
author=Fortner GS, Oreskovich MR, Copass MK, Carrico CJ
title=The Effects of Prehospital Trauma Care on Survival from a 50 Meter Fall
journal=Journal of Trauma
volume=23
issue=11
pages=976–81
year=1983
pmid=6632028] 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:cite news
url=http://www.thestranger.com/seattle/Content?oid=3664
author=Charles Mudede
title=JUMPERS
publisher=The Stranger
accessdate=2007-10-20
date=2000-04-19]

A 160-pound person covers the 180 feet in 2.2 seconds. Depending upon the configuration of the body during the fall, final speed is about 55 m.p.h. Force at impact is about 28,000 foot-pounds, equivalent in energy to being blasted by 20 30-30 Winchester rifles from a distance of 180 feet.

Despite the force of impact, jumpers occasionally survive the fall from the bridge, though not without sustaining serious injuries. [cite news |url=http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=webjumper10&date=20070309
title=Woman survives jump from Aurora Bridge
publisher=The Seattle Times
accessdate=2007-10-20
date=2007-09-30] [cite news |url=http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/archives/1996/9603060095.asp
title=Life After The Fall
publisher=Seattle Post-Intelligencer
accessdate=2007-10-20
date=1996-03-05]

News sources have referred to the George Washington Memorial Bridge as a suicide bridge [cite news
url=http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/16829300/ |title='Suicide bridge’ hurts workers’ mental health |publisher=msnbc.com. |accessdate = 2007-10-20 |date=2007-01-26] and, in December 2006, six emergency phones and 18 signs were installed on the bridge to encourage people to seek help instead of jumping.cite web |url=http://www.wsdot.wa.gov/Projects/SR99/AuroraBridgeFence |title=SR 99 - Aurora Bridge Fence |publisher=Washington State Department of Transportation |date=2007 |accessdate=2007-12-03] In late 2006 a group of community activists and political leaders living near the bridge created the Fremont Individuals and Employees Nonprofit to Decrease Suicides (FRIENDS), their primary focus being the installation of a suicide barrier on the bridge. [cite news
url=http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=aurorabridge17&date=20070917
title=Neighbors work to end bridge's tragic pull
author=Marc Ramirez
publisher=The Seattle Times
accessdate=2007-10-20
date=2007-09-17]

In 2007, Washington Governor Christine Gregoire allocated $1.4 million dollars in her supplemental budget for the construction of an convert|8|ft|m|adj=on high suicide prevention fence to help reduce the number of suicides on the bridge.cite news |url=http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/politics/2004081642_aurorabridge19m.html |title=Money for fence to cut Aurora Bridge suicides |author=Donna Gordon Blankinship |publisher=The Associated Press |date=2007-12-19 |accessdate=2008-08-21]

Metro bus tragedy

On November 27, 1998, Mark McLaughlin, the driver of a southbound route 359 Express articulated bus, was shot and killed by a passenger, Silas Cool, while crossing the bridge.cite web
title = Rider Shoots Driver; 2 Dead, Dozens Hurt -- Bus Careens Off Bridge -- Murder-Suicide A Possibility
url = http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=2785924&date=19981128
publisher = The Seattle Times
accessdate = 2007-10-20
date = 1998-11-28] cite news
title = Bus Driver Killed By Shot To Chest -- Search Of Gunman's Apartment Turns Up Additional Guns, Knives
url = http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=2786260&date=19981130
work = The Seattle Times
accessdate = 2007-10-20
date = 1998-11-30
author=Deborah Nelson
coauthors=Christine Clarridge; J. Martin Mcomber; Tan Vinh; Eric Sorensen; Chris Solomon] Cool then shot himself as the bus veered across two lanes of traffic and plunged off the bridge's eastern side onto the roof of an apartment building below. Herman Liebelt, a passenger on the bus, later died of injuries he sustained in the accident. [cite news
title = Victim Was Trying `To Make A Difference' - Herman Liebelt Had Varied Interests, Causes
url = http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=2786115&date=19981129
work = The Seattle Times
author=Chris Solomon
accessdate = 2007-10-20
date = 1998-11-29]

A service for McLaughlin was held on December 8, 1998, at Key Arena in Seattle. Numerous state and county officials and over 100 transit drivers attended the service, which included a procession of over eighty Metro buses and vans. Metro announced their plans to retire the number 359 as a route designation and replace it with route 358.cite news
url=http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=2787861&date=19981208
title=Bus Drivers Honor One Of Their Own -- Memorial For Mark Mclaughlin
publisher=The Seattle Times
authors=Jack Broom
coauthors=Christine Clarridge
accessdate=2007-10-20
date=1998-12-08]

According to estimates from the Washington State Department of Transportation, repairs to the bridge cost over $18,000. [cite news
title = Part Of Bridge To Be Closed
url = http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=2789803&date=19981219
work = The Seattle Times
accessdate = 2007-10-20
date = 1998-12-19] Medical claims from the victims against King County amounted to $2.3 million. [cite news
url=http://archives.seattletimes.nwsource.com/cgi-bin/texis.cgi/web/vortex/display?slug=4014922&date=20000411
author=Roberto Sanchez
title=Aurora bus wreck tops county list of $10.9 million for claims, suits
publisher=The Seattle Times
accessdate=2007-10-20
date=2000-04-11]

References

External links

* [http://www.seattlefriends.org Seattle FRIENDS]

Crossings navbox
structure = Crossings
place = Lake Washington Ship Canal
bridge = George Washington Memorial Bridge (Aurora Bridge)
bridge signs =
upstream = Ship Canal Bridge
upstream signs =
downstream = Fremont Bridge
downstream signs =