Fremont Bridge, Double-leaf bascule bridge in Fremont, Seattle, US.
The Fremont Bridge is a double-leaf bascule bridge over the Fremont Cut, linking Fremont Avenue North and 4th Avenue North between the Fremont and Queen Anne neighborhoods. Its steel truss main span is painted light blue with a thin red-orange stripe along the upper edge, and flat blue deck sections rest on concrete piers at each end. A tall vertical tower rises at the right end of the truss.
The bridge opened in June 1917 and was the first of four bascule bridges the city built across the Lake Washington Ship Canal. It represented an important infrastructure advancement for Seattle's growing neighborhoods.
The bridge's paint has changed with public taste: it was originally dull green, then Fremont Orange after a 1972 committee choice, and the current blue and orange scheme was picked by voters at a 1985 street fair. A bicycle counter installed in 2012 recorded 1.12 million rides in 2019.
The bridge opens about 35 times a day because of its 30-foot vessel clearance, but it stays closed to most boats during rush hours, when road traffic has priority. A bicycle counter installed in 2012 tallies riders crossing the span.
The bridge opens more frequently than almost any other drawbridge in the country due to its low clearance over the water and the steady flow of boats passing through. This constant motion makes it a distinctive feature of Seattle's waterfront infrastructure.
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