The longest bridge in Washington State doesn't have any pillars; it floats. The entire 7,700-plus feet of it, bobbing gently on Lake Washington between Seattle and its eastern suburbs, is held up by just concrete pontoons and a carefully engineered anchoring system. According to a 2016 Guinness World Records announcement, the Washington State Department of Transportation (WSDOT) picked up the official world record for "longest floating bridge" in April 2016, when the new Evergreen Point Floating Bridge opened to the public, aptly beating its own predecessor to claim the title. For a country that's obsessed with superlatives, this one barely made a mark on the national conversation. Which is a shame, because the story behind why this bridge floats is as much about American engineering pragmatism as any skyscraper ever was.
Why the bridge floats instead of standing
