Comments on: Back When Bulged, I-90 Floating Bridge

By: DAN B

DAN B — Thu, 21 Apr 2011 02:43:46 +0000

rememeber that buldge very well, in fact me and a friend were going around it one rainy nite in the 70s and coming out of the buldge the car spun around did a 180 and was pointed the oppisite way, after realizing we were ok and didnt go in the drink started laughing

By: John

John — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 01:28:06 +0000

I remember that too. The red X’s and green O’s were actually neon.

By: marty

marty — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 10:43:35 +0000

just found this post, looks like it’s a couple of years old but oh well..

i grew up on the seattle side, but my grandparents lived on mercer island so my father drove us over there very frequently, at least once a week. the bulge really wasn’t the scary part, you had to slow down but it really was nothing to worry about. it was that insane reversible lane system that was very dangerous.. when lane-change time occured, those red X’s and green arrows would start flashing, and you never knew if you would be hit head-on in the tunnels or when negotiating the bulge…

the bulge/drawspan itself was pretty primitive.. it had no automated opening or closing mechanism. there was a small tugboat moored to the north side of the bulge at all times. when they wanted to open the drawspan, they would fire up the tug, bridge crew would unlock the movable pontoon segment and the tug would pull a cable at a right-angle to the bridge to pull the span open. to close the span, the tug would drop the first cable, return to the bridge, pick up a second cable and pull it to close the span. the bulge was removed and replaced with a straight pontoon section in the 80′s when the high-level bridge on the east side of the island was completed. at that point, the drawspan on the floating bridge wasn’t needed any longer and it was too much of a hazard to leave in place. it was anchored at the south end of the lake for many years, just offshore of the renton airport… i always wondered what happened to it..

By: Ben

Ben — Sat, 29 May 2010 20:27:01 +0000

Well, blow me down! I wish I’d known about this particular post earlier. But, better late than never. I am the younger brother of one of the commentors above and was really not at all suprised to see his name there. He and I have vivid memories of those days. I can however add another story. I was a Marine in the early 1980′s, and while in Southern California a wonderful older couple took me in and fed me on Sunday afternoons. I found a picture of the LW bridge at their home and they told me of the woman’s father, who was the major designer/engineer. I don’t recall their names now, but she was full of memories about her father working on the “bulge” bridge. Back then I didn’t realize how small a world this really is, but as I think back I see how small it really was.

By: Dave Keeler

Dave Keeler — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 21:19:52 +0000

My friend dies on the buldge in 1971, coming back from a “beer run” after we had graduated from Newport, Deane Kelsey was his name….I remember him fondly

By: Erik

Erik — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:22:49 +0000

Love the stories. I was only a kid when the bulge and goofy reversible lanes with the green and red X’s were still around – but I will still have an occasional nightmare about the old I-90 bridge, (crazy eh?) And remember that eastbound ‘merge into freeway traffic from a complete standing right hand stop’ entrance after the tunnel but right before dropping out onto the bridge on the Seattle side? Hold on to your butts…

By: Matt

Matt — Mon, 06 Apr 2009 20:40:54 +0000

We used to call it the donut. I’m the same age as Burke above, and the bulge forms a part of my earliest memories. We lived in Bellevue and my uncle had a house on the Seattle shore of Lake Washington, right above where the hydro pits were before they moved them south to current Stan Sayers. We spent every first Sunday in August over there and came home late in the evening. I remember I’d be nearly asleep in the back seat even before we got back across the bridge, and I remember having my eyes closed and feeling the centrifugal forces pulling me first one way, then another as Dad navigated the bulge, and knowing exactly where I was from that car’s movements.

Martha, I too remember the tickly feeling I got as the tires hit the metal grates. Yes, Michael, the moving section was just east of the bulge and it moved into the bulge when boats were let through. I also remember the green arrows and red Xs. Hadn’t thought about them in years but I can still see them in my mind. Thanks for the post Cliffe and for the comments all.

By: John Meek

John Meek — Mon, 20 Oct 2008 17:34:41 +0000

How many cars actually went over into the water while the bulge was in affect?
My friend says none, but I swear I heard of more than one instance of a car going into the drink.

Thanks, for your help

By: Michael Favro

Michael Favro — Thu, 14 Aug 2008 18:46:37 +0000

It wasn’t so much the bulge that was scary when one of the reversible lanes was in operation. Being out in the open gave you the feeling that you had *somewhere* to go if you had to (even though you really didn’t! but the illusion made one feel better). But, when you went through one of the tunnels when one lane was heading east and the other west!!! Those tunnels were (or at least *seemed*) way too narrow and didn’t leave any margin for error. Many a white knuckle was had in those tunnels!

And, if I recall correctly, the bulge itself wasn’t the movable part of the bridge. Didn’t the span immediately east of the bulge retract *into* the bulge? (Aren’t the black “lines” in the water on either side of the span just east of the bulge guides for the boats directing the boater to the part of the span that retracted?)

I love your site! Keep up the good work! Even though I haven’t lived in Seattle for almost 10 years, learning about it’s history just adds to the love I still feel for her. Thanks.

By: Jack

Jack — Mon, 11 Aug 2008 16:03:46 +0000

We moved to the Eastside in November 1950 and crossed the bridge twice a day five days a week. The revesible bulge was never scary but always a time for paying attention.
I can remember crossing the bridge at night in younger days and seeing how fast we could “do the bulge”, I’m older and smarter now I hope.