The South Park Bridge (also called the 14th/16th Avenue South Bridge ) is a double-leaf bascule bridge in Seattle , Washington , United States. Opened in 2014, the current bridge replaced a 1931 bascule bridge that carried the same name and had been listed on the National Register of Historic Places . The bridge is operated by the King County government. It carries automobile traffic over the Duwamish River near Boeing Field , just outside the city limits of Seattle, and is named for the nearby South Park neighborhood of Seattle.
15-458: The original bridge was a Scherzer rolling lift double-leaf bascule bridge constructed in 1929–31. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982, as the 14th Avenue South Bridge . As of around 2009, about 20,000 vehicles used the bridge daily, and it was a main connection to South Park's main business district. The original bridge was already in poor condition when it
30-504: A refinement of the bascule bridge called the Scherzer rolling lift bridge. His last engineering work before he died, done in 1893, was the design of two of these rolling lift bridges in Chicago. His design pivots the bridge like a rocking horse. The friction is lowered because it is rolling friction. Moreover when the bridge is open the channel is completely free as the mechanism has rolled away
45-484: Is acknowledged to be one of the most useful mechanisms of the generation. [His] invention has been of great benefit in the advancement of commerce and civilization. [Scherzer’s contribution] has facilitated and made possible the opening and development of the great rivers, canals and waterways throughout the world for the passage of the largest vessels of commerce. 1893 Lift bridge patent – Because of Scherzer's early demise, his brother took over
60-490: The Metropolitan West Side Elevated Railroad Company. The timing of Scherzer's unique design could not have been better. Railroads were being built with bridges needed to cross rivers in dense urban sites. His patented method made it possible for a bridge to accommodate a change of grade. In 1908 his contribution was recognized: William Scherzer [was] the inventor and patentee of what
75-651: The Polytechnicum college in Zurich, Switzerland when he was eighteen years old. There he was at the top of his class. Scherzer was considered a competitor both in play and studies by all that knew him closely. He graduated from the Zurich engineering college in 1880. Scherzer returned to America in 1880 and took the position of engineer for three years at the Matthiessen & Hegeler Zinc Company at La Salle, Illinois . In 1883 he
90-498: The Scherzer Rolling Lift Bridge Company and derived fourteen additional related patents pertaining to rolling lift bridges and built 175 of these type bridges nationwide by 1916. Scherzer never married. He suffered a year with typhoid fever which brought an attack of brain fever . Scherzer died from the fever on July 20, 1893, at the age of thirty-five in Chicago. His father, William Scherzer Senior, died at
105-496: The South Park Bridge continued to operate in its deteriorated condition. Although plans to build a new bridge were ready, the project failed to receive a $ 99 million federal TIGER I grant in early 2010. The bridge was finally closed June 30, 2010, at 7:00 p.m. Earlier that month, King County secured $ 10 million toward the replacement of bridge. Dismantling of the bridge began in late August 2010, with removal of
120-541: The age of forty-one. [REDACTED] Media related to William Scherzer at Wikimedia Commons Van Buren Street Bridge (Chicago) The Van Buren Street Bridge is a bascule bridge that spans the Chicago River in downtown Chicago , Illinois, United States. It is the sixth bridge at this location and carrying this name, and was completed in 1956. It replaced an 1895 Rolling Lift-type bascule bridge designed by William Scherzer . This article about
135-422: The bridge from the edge leaving the passage free for wide traffic. The first rolling lift bridge ever built was the 1895-opened Van Buren Street Bridge (long since replaced by a newer bridge of a non-rolling bascule type) in the city of Chicago and was patented by Scherzer. The second rolling lift bridge constructed spanned the Chicago River between Jackson and Van Buren Streets. These bridge projects were for
150-551: The lift span sections, even while the outlook for the proposed replacement project remained unclear. County officials subsequently secured funds for replacement of the entire bridge, and work to replace the bridge began in May 2011. In August 2010, the County submitted a grant application for $ 36.2 million in federal funds from the second round of federal Transportation Investment Generating Economic Recovery grants, TIGER II , for replacement of
165-491: The new bridge began in May 2011. A ceremonial grand opening event was held for the newly completed South Park Bridge on June 29, 2014, and it officially opened to traffic the following day, June 30, 2014. William Donald Scherzer William Donald Scherzer (January 27, 1858 – July 20, 1893) was an American engineer and inventor who invented the rolling lift bridge . Scherzer's parents were William and Wilhelmina Scherzer, who immigrated from Germany in 1847. Scherzer
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#1732844202004180-467: The original bridge. On October 15, 2010, it was announced that the project had been awarded $ 34 million in TIGER II financing, filling the funding gap and allowing work to replace the bridge to move forward. In March 2011, King County announced that the new bridge would be constructed by Kiewit-Massman, a joint venture of Kiewit Infrastructure West Company and Massman Construction Company. Construction of
195-492: Was born in Peru, Illinois , on January 27, 1858, as the second son in a family of three sons and one daughter. Scherzer received his primary education in public schools. He exhibited talent in art and mathematics, where his father had exhibited talent in music and art. After elementary school Scherzer entered the private schooling of Professor Eggers at the age of 15 for college prep courses. He later then took up civil engineering at
210-523: Was employed by the Pittsburg, Fort Wayne & Chicago Railway Company. He took up the specialty field of bridge engineering. Scherzer in 1885 was employed as the assistant to the chief engineer of the Keystone Bridge Company of Chicago. He was there for eight years. Scherzer entered into business for himself in 1893 in Chicago as a consulting and contracting engineer. Scherzer was the inventor of
225-595: Was further damaged by the Nisqually earthquake of 2001. In 2002, King County inspectors gave the bridge a score of 6 out of a possible 100, per Federal Highway Administration criteria, and the rating later fell to as low as 4. This compares to a score of 50 for the I-35W Mississippi River bridge , which collapsed in August 2007. However, due to a lack of county, state and federal funding for a proposed replacement project,
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