[Alaskan Way Viaduct/Reconstruction of the Ballard Bridge], 1950/1940
Vložit
- čas přidán 9. 02. 2016
- Original format: 16mm (transferred to DigiBeta), color, silent
Unedited footage created by the City of Seattle Engineering Department featuring shots driving along the Alaskan Way Viaduct and the reconstruction of the Ballard Bridge. Opens with paving and removal of streetcar rails. Construction of Ballard Bridge includes shots of workers and bridge at various stages and ends with opening celebration including parade with floats, bands, and baton twirlers.
The Ballard Bridge was originally built in 1917, spanning 2,854 feet across the Ship Canal, to connect Ballard with the Interbay, Magnolia and Queen Anne neighborhoods. In 1937 the Seattle City Council passed an ordinance authorizing work to begin on reconstructing the bascule bridge. Completed in 1939, the reconstruction replaced the timber approaches with approaches of concrete and steel that featured ornamental lighting. The cost was $800,000, funded 45 percent by the federal Depression-era Works Progress Administration (WPA) and the remainder by Seattle’s share of the state gasoline tax. The work closed the roadway for the year and a half of construction. For the duration, people crossing the ship canal were obliged to drive over the Fremont Bridge or the Aurora Bridge.
The Alaskan Way Viaduct is a defunct elevated freeway in Seattle, that carried a section of State Route 99 (SR 99). The double-decked freeway ran north-south along the city's waterfront for 2.2 miles, east of Alaskan Way and Elliott Bay, and traveled between the West Seattle Freeway in SoDo and the Battery Street Tunnel in Belltown.
The viaduct was built in three phases from 1949 through 1959, with the first section opening on April 4, 1953. It was the smaller of the two major north-south traffic corridors through Seattle (the other being Interstate 5), carrying up to 91,000 vehicles per day in 2016. The viaduct ran above Alaskan Way, a surface street, from S. Nevada Street in the south to the entrance of Belltown's Battery Street Tunnel in the north, following previously existing railroad lines.
Item 524, Seattle Engineering Department Moving Images, Record Series 2613-09 Seattle Municipal Archives
That pan shot from the north end of the Ballard bridge over fisherman's terminal and the big rail yards and round house are just super cool - never seen footage of that area from this time period before. Interesting that even the guys pushing concrete and throwing rivets are wearing Fedoras.
Jumped around a little, I caught what looks like downtown Seattle at night (4th avenue I think) with the Great Northern Railway mountain goat sign illuminated at the end of the street, some late fifties footage of the first avenue south bridge leading into the Battery Street Tunnel and then I believe, the Coliseum theater on Pike Street at night. From about 10:50 on it's the demolition and construction of the Ballard Bridge.
Good eye! Also back then 4th Ave downtown was a 2way street
The opening footage of streetcar rails is actually looking south on 23rd Ave and Washington St. I grew up 6 blocks from this location. Great film! At the 3:28 mark, is in front of Garfield High School, on 23rd Ave between Cherry and Jefferson street respectively.
Incredible footage!
I attended the Ballard school of driving.!
Great drone footage at 24:00
Can't make much of the nighttime footage, great stuff though 👍
Great Footage! Shouldn't it be named Reopening of Ballard Bridge though?
Oh My goodness! They tore down both approaches?! During the reconstruction?
I would love to use some of these beautiful, nostalgic, footage for my next CZcams project!
Moving image content created by the City of Seattle is public record and does not require permission for use as it is a public record. To use content created by entities other than the City of Seattle, please contact the creator for permission. Please cite moving images materials “Courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives” with the item number if possible. The videos streaming here are a low resolution copy. If you require a higher resolution copy, please contact archives@seattle.gov.
@@SeattleArchives thank you for the response! Very much appreciated!
@@kennethakennetha anytime!
Should add music to this👍👍
Most of the it looks to be 1950s?
No sound?
I live in Seattle Washington
Take that back 1930s
Nobody recycled ripped up asphalt back then. It was another time of unlimited resources & nobody could imagine we would run out of anything. Look at the guys sweeping the dirt
Where are all the overpriced, oversized pickup trucks flying Trump 2024 flags sporting tabs that expired in 2021?
On the Eastside of the mountains.
@@zippySquirrelface Loren Culp country!