At 2:38 a.m. on June 11, 1978, the freighter "Antonio Chavez" rammed the West Spokane Street Bridge, thereby closing it to automobile traffic for the next six years. The pilot and master were both found negligent in causing the collision. The collision led to the opening of the current West Seattle Bridge in 1984. The incident occurred in west fork of the Duwamish Waterway, as the Chavez hit the West Spokane Street Bridge which had been raised to allow the ship to pass through. This blocked eastbound traffic to West Seattle, until the westbound span was temporarily adapted to handle two-way traffic.
At 2:38 a.m. on June 11, 1978, the freighter "Antonio Chavez" rammed the West Spokane Street Bridge, thereby closing it to automobile traffic for the next six years. The pilot and master were both found negligent in causing the collision. The collision led to the opening of the current West Seattle Bridge in 1984. The incident occurred in west fork of the Duwamish Waterway, as the Chavez hit the West Spokane Street Bridge which had been raised to allow the ship to pass through. This blocked eastbound traffic to West Seattle, until the westbound span was temporarily adapted to handle two-way traffic. (en)
At 2:38 a.m. on June 11, 1978, the freighter "Antonio Chavez" rammed the West Spokane Street Bridge, thereby closing it to automobile traffic for the next six years. The pilot and master were both found negligent in causing the collision. The collision led to the opening of the current West Seattle Bridge in 1984. The incident occurred in west fork of the Duwamish Waterway, as the Chavez hit the West Spokane Street Bridge which had been raised to allow the ship to pass through. This blocked eastbound traffic to West Seattle, until the westbound span was temporarily adapted to handle two-way traffic. (en)
