Seattle Landmarks: Queen Anne Drive Bridge (1936)

Address: Queen Anne Drive between 2nd Avenue N and Nob Hill Avenue N, Seattle. The bridge across Wolf Creek, on the north side of Queen Anne Hill, is of the steel arch type, 238 feet long. The parabolic two-hinged arch is unusually high and it has a minimum of supporting members. "The simple concrete forms are embellished by regularly spaced groups of rectangular indentations and by tulip-shaped ornamental lighting fixtures mounted on projecting pier headings" (Kreisman).

The steel and concrete bridge replaced an older wooden structure and it connected Queen Anne Hill with the recently completed George Washington Memorial (Aurora) Bridge. It was designed by the Seattle Engineering Department and the Seattle Parks board. It was built by the Public Works Administration and the City of Seattle in 1936 for $66,118.72.

In 1980, the bridge carried more than 8,000 cars a day. It was designated a Seattle Landmark on December 28, 1981, because of its unique engineering style.

Sources: Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Landmarks Preservation Board, 700 Third Avenue, 4th Floor, Seattle, Washington; Lawrence Kreisman, Made to Last: Historic Preservation in Seattle and King County, (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999), 55.

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Sources: Seattle Department of Neighborhoods, Landmarks Preservation Board, 700 Third Avenue, 4th Floor, Seattle, Washington; Lawrence Kreisman, Made to Last: Historic Preservation in Seattle and King County, (Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1999), 55.

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