Two Bridges

Two interesting bridges in Washington

Crossing the Columbia River - taken from the Ginko Petrified Forest State Park in Eastern Washington.  The bridge is 2,504 ft (763.2 m) long and 75 ft (  22.9 m) high and carries 15,000 vehicles a day.

The first bridge across this part of the Columbia was built in 1927 - prior to that a ferry operated at this location, carrying 5000 people a month across the river.  The first bridge was dismantled in 1962, put into storage and a new bridge was built at this location.  The old bridge was later moved to the Snake River crossing near Starbuck, WA in 1968. 

The bridge crosses the river, near Vantage and George, Washington. This section of the river is named Wanapum Lake; it is the reservoir formed by Wanapum Dam and named for the Wanapum tribe that inhabited this area.  The dam was built in 1963.

Across the river you see the hills that are the beginning of the Palouse - a vast wheat growing area of Eastern Washington and Western Idaho.  The view is from the Ginko Petrified Forest State Park.

Looking back after crossing the bridge

We were vacationing in Eastern Washington two years ago when we visited this area

Water skiing

Another bridge

This foot bridge is across Whatcom Creek - at Whatcom Falls Park - a city park in Bellingham.  It is a short bridge - overlooking the falls and is a popular hiking and walking area.  Whatcom Falls Park is right in town - carved out of the woods, with play areas, picnic tables, benches, a pond, a fish hatchery and hiking trails.  

During the Great Depression of the 1930s  federal money was used to purchase most of the park’s current 241 acres, expanding it from the then current 40 acres, purchased by local clubs and organizations.   In 1939 Roosevelt’s New Deal Works Progress Administration (WPA) paid workers to move the Chuckanut sandstone arches from a downtown burned-out building to the park, and the sandstone was used to construct the   bridge.

This is a photo of the original bridge - the photo was taken in 1906 by a relative of our son-in-law Jason Davies.  His relatives were on a tour of the west coast form their home in Spokane, WA and stopped for a day in Bellingham to to explore the town a little.  The population of Bellingham in 1906 was approximately 16,000 people, today the population is over 85,000.