Homer & Lacey Traditional Cache
Rock Rabbit: The cache owner is not responding to issues with this listing, so I must regretfully archive it.
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(regular)
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This cache commemorates the two floating bridges connecting Seattle
and Mercer Island by taking the cacher to a park area under the
freeway, where I-90 meets the west side of Mercer Island. Read up
on the history below, check out the pictures attached, then go
enjoy the park and reflect upon the history and all the changes
over time....
The original Lake Washington Floating Bridge was built and opened
in 1940. At the time, it was the longest floating bridge in the
world.
It still ranks as second, behind the Evergreen Point Floating
Bridge on Highway 520 from Redmond to Seattle (built 1963), which
is now officially known as the Governor Albert D Rosellini Bridge.
The original Lake Washington Floating Bridge included a movable
span that could be retracted into a pocket in the center of the
fixed span to permit large boats to pass by directly transecting
the roadway. This design resulted in a roadway "bulge" (the outer
part of the pocket), that required vehicles to swerve twice across
steel joints as the road curved around the open pocket area.
A "reversible lane" system, indicated by lighted overhead lane
control signals with arrow and 'X' signs, compounded the hazard by
putting one lane of traffic on the "wrong" side of the bulge at
different times of day in an effort to alleviate rush-hour traffic
into or out of Seattle. It made for an interesting drive!
There were of course many serious collisions on the bridge. The
problems grew worse as the traffic load increased over the years
and far outstripped the designed capacity. Obviously, renovation or
replacement were essential, and a parallel new bridge, officially
called the Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge, was completed in 1989.
This bridge is now the fifth-longest floating bridge in the world.
The original Lake Washington Floating Bridge sank in a storm on
November 25, 1990, while it was undergoing refurbishing and repair.
Workers had cut six-foot-high holes into the hollow concrete
pontoons to facilitate work, and unfortunately these holes had not
been closed before the holiday weekend of unusually high winds and
rain. By the time it was discovered that the pontoons were becoming
filled with storm water, it was too late to pump them out, and as
helicopters hovered over the bridge and broadcast the images,
viewers looked on as the bridge began to sag and break apart, and
then one by one, sections of the bridge broke off, upended
themselves and then tilted, slicing their way to the bottom of the
lake. By the end of the day, the bridge was gone, and tugboats had
to be employed to keep the new bridge in place.
The reconstructed bridge was completed in 1993 and officially
named the Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge, and although the
floating part is all new, the bridge still retains the same
stylistic arches at either end.
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Access to the park is via foot or bicycle from the pedestrian/bike
path above, on the north side of I-90, via a side path down to the
lake; or, via car, to a parking lot under the highway accessed from
the south side of the freeway. The cache is an ammo can and is an
easy find, good with kids. Please re-hide the cache well, this can
be a high muggle area!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
gur Ebpx(f)