Building the passenger light rail line over a “floating bridge” was not a easy task. It connects Seattle and Bellevue across Lake Washington on Interstate 90.
Engineering experts at Sound Transit and WSDOT had to solve three primary technical hurdles to safely operate 600,000-pound trains across a shifting, floating concrete bridge.
As trains must cross a structure that shifts constantly with wind and waves, engineers spent years developing unprecedented technologies to handle the immense weight and prevent catastrophic derailments into the water.
Strengthening the bridge
To the millions of passengers taking in the sweeping views of Mount Rainier, the journey feels like an effortless commute. But under the floorboards lies a engineering feat that borders on science fiction: the first and only passenger railway on a floating bridge…