Lake Washington
| Lake Washington | |
|---|---|
 Map of Lakes Washington and Sammamish | |
| Location | King County, Washington, USA |
| Coordinates | 47°37′0″N 122°15′53″W / 47.61667°N 122.26472°W |
| Primary inflows | Sammamish, Cedar Rivers; Ravenna, Thornton, Kelsey, Juanita, and Coal Creeks |
| Primary outflows | Lake Washington Ship Canal (1916) |
| Catchment area | 315,000 acres (1,270 km2) |
| Basin countries | United States |
| Max. length | 22 mi (35 km) |
| Surface area | 33.8 square miles (88 km2), 33.8 square miles (21,600 acres) |
| Average depth | 108 ft (33 m) |
| Max. depth | 214 ft (65 m) |
| Water volume | 2,400,000 acre⋅ft (3.0 km3) |
| Surface elevation | 16 ft (4.9 m) above mean sea level, 20.6 ft (6.3 m) above Puget Sound mean lower low tide |
| Islands | Mercer Island, Foster Island, Marsh Island, Ohler's Island, Pritchard Island |
Lake Washington is a large freshwater lake adjacent to the city of Seattle. It is the largest lake in King County and the second largest in the state of Washington, after Lake Chelan. 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. The lake 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 Xacuabš (Lushootseed: literally great-amount-of-water).[2] Around 1900s the city began discharging sewage into Lake Washington. After significant pollution, the October 5, 1963 issue of the Post Intelligencer referred to the lake as "Lake Stinko". Since then, Lake Washington has undergone major improvements, drastically improving the ecology and water quality, turning the water to twice as clear as it was in 1950.[3] Kenmore Air operates passenger seaplane service at Kenmore Air Harbor at the northern end of the lake.
Geography
A ribbon lake, Lake Washington is long, narrow and finger-like. Ribbon lakes are excavated by glaciers. As the Puget lobe of the Cordilleran Ice Sheet flowed south near the end of the Late Pleistocene, it met bands of harder and softer rock. Erosion of the softer rock was faster and a linear depression was created in the flow direction. When the glacier melted the lake filled with the meltwater, which was retained by moraine deposits. A dam can also be created by the bands of harder rock either side of the softer rock. There is usually a river at both ends of a ribbon lake, one being the inlet, and the other, the outlet — though in the case of present day Lake Washington, inlet rivers are located at both ends.
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).[4] 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. The bridges consist of hollow concrete pontoons that float atop the lake, anchored with cables to each other and to weights on the lake bottom. The roadway is constructed atop these concrete pontoons. Three floating bridges cross Lake Washington: the Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (officially the Governor Albert D. Rosellini Bridge - Evergreen Point) carries 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) carries 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.
Many questioned the wisdom of concrete floating bridge technology after the sinking of a portion of the Lacey V. Murrow bridge on November 25, 1990. However, a Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) investigation revealed that that incident resulted from the improper handling of hydrodemolition water being used during bridge renovations, rather than in any basic flaw in the bridge's concept or design. Concrete floating bridges continue to remain a viable means for the conveyance of vehicle traffic over Lake Washington.[5]
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.[6]
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, Hunts Point, Medina, Bellevue, Beaux Arts Village, Newcastle, and Renton. The city of Mercer Island occupies the island of the same name, in the southern half of 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.
- ^ http://www.washington.edu/research/pathbreakers/1955c.html
- ^ Lake Washington Ship Canal, HistoryLink.org
- ^ Dorpat, Paul (1998). Building Washington: A History of Washington State Public Works. Tartu Publications. p. 124. ISBN 0-9614357-9-8.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help) - ^ Dorpat, Paul (1998). Building Washington: A History of Washington State Public Works. Tartu Publications. p. 36. ISBN 0-9614357-9-8.
{{cite book}}: Unknown parameter|coauthors=ignored (|author=suggested) (help)
