Lake Washington
Lake Washington is the second largest natural
lake in
Washington State, USA, after
Lake Chelan, and the largest lake in
King County. It is situated between
Seattle to the west,
Bellevue to the east,
Renton to the south, and
Kenmore to the north, and surrounds
Mercer Island. It is fed by the
Sammamish River at its north end and the
Cedar River at its south, as well as a number of creeks, including
Ravenna Creek along the
Union Bay Natural Area and
Thornton Creek on the west; and
Kelsey Creek,
Juanita Creek, and
Coal Creek on the east.
Bill Gates's mansion is situated along its
Medina waterfront.
Before construction of the
Lake Washington Ship Canal in 1916, Lake Washington's outlet was the
Black River, which joined the
Duwamish River and emptied into
Elliott Bay. When the canal was opened, the level of the lake dropped nearly nine feet (3 m). The canal to
Puget Sound became the lake's sole outlet, causing the Black River to dry up and disappear, as a few years earlier, the Cedar River had been diverted to empty into Lake Washington instead of the Black.
Four bridges cross Lake Washington. The
Evergreen Point Floating Bridge (officially the Governor
Albert D. Rosellini Bridge--Evergreen Point) carries
Washington State Route 520 from Seattle's
Montlake neighborhood to
Medina. The
Lacey V. Murrow Memorial Bridge and the
Third Lake Washington Bridge (officially the
Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge) carry
Interstate 90 from Seattle's
Mount Baker neighborhood to
Mercer Island. The
East Channel Bridge carries Interstate 90 from Mercer Island to
Bellevue. The Evergreen Point, Lacey V. Murrow, and Third Lake Washington
bridges are the longest, second longest, and fifth longest
floating bridges in the world, respectively. In
1950, a year or so after the
tolls came off the Murrow bridge, the
inland ferry system on the lake came to an end, having operated since the 1880s.
Kenmore Air operates passenger
seaplane service at
Kenmore Air Harbor at the northern end of the lake.
Seattle,
Lake Forest Park,
Kenmore,
Kirkland,
Yarrow Point,
Clyde Hill,
Hunts Point,
Medina,
Bellevue,
Beaux Arts Village,
Mercer Island,
Newcastle,
Renton| Area of lake | 21,500 acres | 87.6 km² | | Area of drainage basin | 300,000 acres | 1,274 km² |
|---|
| Volume | 2,350,000 acre-feet | 2.9 km³ |
|---|
| Depth (mean) | 108 ft | 32.9 m |
|---|
| Depth (max) | 214 ft | 65.2 m |
|---|
| Length | 13 miles | 21 km |
|---|
| Height* | 20.6 ft | 6.3 m |
|---|
* Above Puget Sound mean lower low tide
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