Bridges in Seattle

The Fremont troll lives under Aurora bridge next to the north abutment. This shaggy haired troll with a grip on a Volkswagon Bug was sculpted by four area artists in 1990 and attracts visitors every day. Phil and Jennifer drove us here one morning where I took the above picture. "Trollaween" parties are an annual event each October 31st.

The first below picture shows a railroad yard along Elliott Bay between Queen Anne and Magnolia areas of Seattle.
The next pictures show a bridge over this railroad yard. Notice the unusual design. This bridge was built by Amgen as a pedestrian bridge for employees or other foot-traffic to get from the main street to the office complex of Amgen. This bridge is said to have cost Amgen $10 million. Amgen is a biotechnology research company which started twenty-five years ago in Thousand Oaks, California and expanded research facilities to Seattle a few years ago. The twenty year average annual growth rate of Amgen has been 28.7%. You do the math and compute what an investment in this company twenty years ago would be worth today.

Back to the design of the bridge: after viewing the below pictures, you may recognize the shape of a helix. A helix is a spiral shape like a screw, spring, or spiral staircase. DNA is also helical and the reason this biotechnology company chose to use this shape in the bridge. See the attached link here for interesting information about helix.

Return here on Tuesday, August 22 for an update.

Have a good day!