South Park Bridge (Seattle)

The South Park Bridge is a Scherzer rolling lift double-leaf bascule bridge in Seattle, Washington, United States. The bridge is operated by the King County government, It carries automobile traffic over the Duwamish River near Boeing Field, just outside the city limits of Seattle, and is named for the nearby South Park neighborhood of Seattle. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, as the 14th Avenue South Bridge.The original bridge was constructed in 1929–31. Prior to its 2010 closure for rebuilding, about 20,000 vehicles used the bridge daily, and it was a main connection to South Park's main business district. Due to safety concerns, the bridge was closed to traffic on June 30, 2010, and its bascule draw-span leaves were removed in August 2010. County officials secured funds for replacement of the draw span, and work to replace the bridge began in May 2011. The bridge reopened to traffic on June 30, 2014, retaining much of its original structure, but with new draw-span leaves.ReplacementThe original bridge was already in poor condition when it was further damaged by the Nisqually earthquake of 2001. In 2002, King County inspectors gave the bridge a score of 6 out of a possible 100, per Federal Highway Administration criteria, and the rating later fell to as low as 4. This compares to a score of 50 for the I-35W Mississippi River bridge, which collapsed in August 2007.