BNSF/GN 1914 Bridge over Salmon Bay in Seattle, WA

(Bridge Hunter, 3D Satellite)

I copied the current satellite image since a $200m lift bridge with 155' of clearance is going to replace it. I have links to more articles about the replacement at the bottom of these notes.

3D Satellite

“As it goes up and down with a counterweight, what we found was that the trunnion bearing [on which the bridge rotates] was getting fatigued,” said BNSF spokesperson Courtney Wallace. BNSF replaced the trunnion bearings about a decade ago. About 30-40 passenger and freight trains cross the bridge each day, clearing marine traffic through the Ballard Locks. [RailwayAge]

Flickr Photo taken by C Hanchey, License: Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC)

Because the bridge is just downstream from a very active lock, there are a lot of photos of it in various angles of opening. This gives us an opportunity to study how the linkages of a Strauss heel-trunion bridge work as it moves.

Charlie Liu

The above is the exception of trying to order them from open to closed because the sun was low and we can see the floor beams.

Andrew Roszak

Page N.

Roberta Thompson

James Koski

Maria Octavio Jimenez

Ballard Locks

Robert Matthews, bridge closing

Jason Nichols

Thomas Keilty

Deb Whitford

Senthil Jegadeesan posted

Stephen Gerrish

Chaunda L

End of the line for Seattle’s Salmon Bay Railroad Bridge?  The article as several photos. Using "safety" as the excuse, it won't have a pedestrian or bike path. They could put the paths on the outside of the truss with space between the truss and the paths. That would be a lot safer than commuters standing on a station platform.

Coast Guard seeks public input on BNSF bridge project in Seattle

(FMI: a decommissioned pump display)