A Northern Pacific survivor in Steilacoom, WA.This bridge was built by the Strauss Bascule Bridge Co. of Chicago, Illinois between 1913 and 1914 for Northern Pacific Railway. The railroad was seeking a water level route south of Tacoma along Puget Sound, through Steilacoom on its way south to Olympia and Kalama in 1910. At this location there was a small-protected estuary, fed by Chambers Bay and a connecting creek. Despite the diminutive size of the bay and, more so, the creek, the passage was considered "navigable waters" and susceptible for use to transport interstate or foreign commerce. Consequently, a bridge was required. This type of vertical lift bridge is unique in that it avoids the use of traditional towers and cables. It is nationally significant as the only remaining example of its kind in the United States though another example of this type is located in Prince George, British Columbia. Bridge 14, as it is also known, also served the Great Northern Railway, and in its later years, Burlington Northern and today, BNSF and Amtrak, though a project to reroute Amtrak is ongoing.
