I-90 Bridge, Seattle

Washington, USA West
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Snorkeling and Scuba Diving at I-90 Bridge, Seattle

I know of a wild dive site right here in Seattle that's not dove at all. The south side of the western I-90 overpass, just south of Leschi and north of Mount Baker Park on Lake Washington boulevard. There's a park on Lake Washington just to the north/under the overpass. I geared up there and went across (east) to the bridge stanchions and headed south. South of the overpass are 3 deck plates/highway sections from where the old bridge sank in like 60 feet of water. On a nice day the visibility is great 20-40 feet or more. When I was there in the summer I could see the entire length of the highway sections stacked one on top of the other. It'd be an experienced dive because of the boat traffic. I don't know if the park is posted banning diving or not. It was an incredible dive because of the immense scale of the bridge sections and the weird feeling looking and standing on the highway 40 feet down. It'd make a great photo riding a bike underwater on a highway!<br><br><b><u>RECENT UPDATE 2009</u>: I noticed that ShoreDiving has a section devoted to the sunken I-90 Bridge in Lake Washington. This is a really good freshwater site, but ALAS, WADOT declared it off limits to divers in mid 2006 after vascillating on the issue for several years following the events of 9/11/01. The park under the present bridge has been posted and the Seattle Harbor Patrol is supposed to enforce the ban. I wanted to alert you to this situation so you can decide whether or not to keep the listing on your web site. -- Gene C.</b>
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Jason Merrill
Jason Merrill
Feb 1, 2006, 12:00 AM
scuba
I thought it was a great dive. The bridge deck was cool to explore. Thumbs up good lake dive.
Originally posted on shorediving.com
Bob Helton
Bob Helton
Dec 3, 2005, 12:00 AM
scuba
This was a fun dive and an interesting dive to say the least. First time diving on the old bridge we played it safe. It is very different being down to 80' and hearing the traffic going over the bridge above you. This is a site that we will go back to. Had a great time.
Originally posted on shorediving.com
Mossback
Mossback
Oct 20, 2005, 12:00 AM
scuba
What a weird place. There is only one bridge deck left of the two mentioned in the main article. The remaining plate is some 200' feet long laying in 60' to 80' at the deep end of it. Lots of construction debris around. I loved the dive, very adventurous diving. It's dark when you get near the bridge due to shadows cast by the live bridge above you. The sound the passing cars make over the bridge decking above adds to the surrealness of this dive.
Originally posted on shorediving.com
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