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Evergreen Point Floating Bridge

floating bridge opened in 2016

Architectural plans, a scale model, maps and brass measuring instruments
Places and architectureInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionSep 23, 2026
Entity authorityQ23885833
Source-derived summary

The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also known as the 520 Bridge and officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge, is a floating bridge that carries Washington State Route 520 across Lake Washington from Seattle to its eastern suburbs. The 7,710-foot-long (2,350 m) floating span is the longest floating bridge in the world, as well as the world's widest, measuring 116 feet (35 m) at its midpoint. It is a toll bridge and uses electronic collection.

The bridge opened in April 2016 and replaced the original Evergreen Point Floating Bridge at the site, which was 130 feet (40 m) shorter and four lanes wide. The original bridge was vulnerable to earthquakes and strong wind events, which would frequently shut down traffic. Planning for a replacement began in 1997 and was approved in 2011; the $4.65 billion budget was derived from state gas taxes and federal sources, as well as toll revenue. Construction of the 77 concrete pontoons began in 2011 and on-site assembly began in 2014.

The Evergreen Point Floating Bridge carries six lanes of traffic—including two lanes for high-occupancy vehicles—and has a multi-use trail for cyclists and pedestrians on its north side. It also carries bus traffic and is designed for a future retrofit that would add light rail service.

History

Background

The original Evergreen Point Floating Bridge, also named for state governor Albert D. Rosellini, opened on August 28, 1963, carrying the four-lane State Route 520 (at the time designated temporarily as the Evergreen Point branch of Primary State Highway 1 until the 1964 state highway renumbering).

Editorial summary

The public source identifies “Evergreen Point Floating Bridge” as floating bridge opened in 2016. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Evergreen, Point and Floating.

Editorial reviewMost useful as a place-based finding aid connecting the present description to earlier jurisdictions, maps and built evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—2016, 1997, 2011, 2014—that can be checked directly. The selected authority fields contribute no independent date. Its value is orientation rather than verdict, with Evergreen, Point and Floating providing the first useful test.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “Evergreen Point Floating Bridge”, the useful work is to connect “floating bridge opened in 2016” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.

Evidence profile

The strongest evidence will usually combine a dated visual record with documents produced by the authority responsible for the place. The source revision retrieved here is dated Sep 23, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q23885833. Authority coordinates are 47.641, -122.259. 1 of 1 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2016, 1997, 2011 and 2014.

Critical limits

Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.

Best used for
  • Historic place names
  • Jurisdictional context
  • Routes into maps and plans
Verify next

Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “Evergreen Point Floating Bridge”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow Evergreen Point Floating Bridge primary sources, Evergreen Point Floating Bridge archive and Evergreen research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “Evergreen Point Floating Bridge”?
  2. Which earlier names or jurisdictions may reveal additional records?
  3. What physical evidence or contemporary plan supports the description?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from Evergreen Point Floating Bridge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.