| Lake Washington | |
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| Location | Washington |
| Primary sources | Sammamish, Cedar Rivers; Ravenna, Thornton, Kelsey, Juanita, and Coal Creeks |
| Primary outflows | Lake Washington Ship Canal (1916) |
| Catchment area | 1,274 km² (300,000 acres) |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 35 km (22 mi) |
| Surface area | 87.6 km² (21,500 acres) |
| Average depth | 32.9 m (108 ft) |
| Max. depth | 65.2 m (214 ft) |
| Water volume | 2.9 km³ (2,350,000 acre-feet) |
| Surface elevation | 6.3 m (20.6 ft) above Puget Sound mean lower low tide |
Lake Washington is the second largest natural lake in state of Washington (after Lake Chelan) and the largest lake in King County. It is bordered by the cities of Seattle on the west, Bellevue and Kirkland on the east, Renton on the south and Kenmore on the north, and surrounds Mercer Island. It is fed by the Sammamish River at its north end and the Cedar River at its south. Lake Washington received its present name in 1854 after Thomas Mercer suggested it be named after George Washington, as the new Washington Territory had been named the year before.[1] The Duwamish called it "Lake Xacuabš" (Lushootseed: literally great-amount-of-water).[2] Kenmore Air operates passenger seaplane service at Kenmore Air Harbor at the northern end of the lake.
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Creeks and rivers
In addition to the Cedar and Sammamish Rivers, numerous small creeks and rivers feed the lake, including:
Canals and bridges
Before construction of the Lake Washington Ship Canal in 1916, Lake Washington's outlet was the Black River, which joined the Duwamish River and emptied into Elliott Bay. When the canal was opened the level of the lake dropped nearly nine feet (3 m).[3] The canal to the Puget Sound became the lake's sole outlet, causing the Black River to dry up and disappear. Concrete floating bridges were employed to span the lake because Lake Washington's depth and muddy bottom prevented the emplacement of the pilings or towers necessary for the construction of a causeway or suspension bridge, respectively. Three floating bridges cross Lake Washington: the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge - Evergreen Point) carries Washington State Route 520 from Seattle's Montlake neighborhood to Medina while the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and the Third Lake Washington Bridge (officially the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge) carry Interstate 90 from Seattle's Mount Baker neighborhood to Mercer Island. The East Channel Bridge carries Interstate 90 from Mercer Island to Bellevue. The Evergreen Point, Lacey V. Murrow, and Third Lake Washington bridges are the longest, second longest, and fifth longest floating bridges in the world, respectively. Though many questioned the wisdom of concrete floating bridge technology after the sinking of one of the Interstate 90 bridges in the early 1990s, it was later found that that incident was caused by improper handling of wastewater from a hydrodemolition process being employed to remove the sidewalks from the bridge and widen its roadway to the standards necessitated by the Interstate Highway System. This undercut the basic principle by which the bridges float - namely, that concrete can be made to float if it is fashioned so as to have a series of hollow air-filled chambers. When these air-filled chambers filled up with water from the hydrodemolition process, and a subsequent storm, the bridge sank. Nonetheless, the concrete floating bridge concept was vindicated when a Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) investigation revealed that it was the improper handling of hydrodemolition water which was to blame, and not the design of the bridge. As long as excess water is kept out of the hollow chambers inside the pontoons of the bridges, they are a safe and structurally sound design concept. Hence, the concrete floating bridge continues to remain a viable means for the conveyance of traffic over Lake Washington.[4] In 1950, approximately one year after the tolls were removed from the Murrow bridge, the inland ferry system on the lake came to an end, having operated since the 1880s.[5]
Shoreline cities and towns
The cities and towns bordering the lake, going clockwise from the west, are Seattle, Lake Forest Park, Kenmore, Kirkland, Yarrow Point, Clyde Hill, Hunts Point, Medina, Bellevue, Beaux Arts Village, Newcastle, Renton. The city of Mercer Island occupies the island of the same name, in the southern half of the lake. The area of Lake Washington boasts several areas of high affluence. Bill Gates's estate is situated along its Medina waterfront, while Paul Allen lives on Mercer Island. Grunge star Kurt Cobain, of Nirvana, and his wife Courtney Love, also owned a home adjacent to the lake.
References
- ^ Phillips, James W. (1971). Washington State Place Names. University of Washington Press, p. 156. ISBN 0-295-95158-3.
- ^ Thrush, Coll (2007). Native Seattle: Histories from the Crossing-Over Place. University of Washington Press, p. 245. ISBN 0-295-98700-6.
- ^ Lake Washington Ship Canal, HistoryLink.org
- ^ Dorpat, Paul; Genevieve McCoy (1998). Building Washington: A History of Washington State Public Works. Tartu Publications, p. 124. ISBN 0-9614357-9-8.
- ^ Dorpat, Paul; Genevieve McCoy (1998). Building Washington: A History of Washington State Public Works. Tartu Publications, p. 36. ISBN 0-9614357-9-8.
- Lake Washington is at coordinates Coordinates:
