For the first time ever, according to Sound Transit officials, light rail track is being installed on a floating bridge—the Interstate 90 Homer M. Hadley Memorial Bridge connecting Seattle to Bellevue as part of a $3.7-billion East Link Extension. Getting side-by-side 1-mile-long fixed rail onto a bridge moving in multiple planes not only required years of testing, but also a fresh approach to construction.
Solutions included a lighter-weight track system, reducing the risk of electrical current going astray and a first-ever land-to-bridge connection.