Emergencies and World Disasters
When a Freighter Broke a City: The Night West Seattle Lost Its Bridge
23 min•10 september 2026
Om avsnittet
When a Freighter Broke a City: The Night West Seattle Lost Its Bridge
The city that felt marooned suddenly had its connection severed at 2:38 a.m. on June 11, 1978, when the freighter Chavez drove its bow into the West Spokane Street Bridge and jammed the bascule spans open forever - and no one died. How did a decades-old, bribery-plagued infrastructure problem turn into the exact catastrophe a federal official once joked would finally free the money to replace it?
In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the bridge’s origins around 1900 through the 1968 Forward Thrust funding, the corruption that killed the replacement project, public efforts to secede and secure funds, and the night a single ship made the stalled solution real - could a collision have been the only way to break the political logjam?
Person: Pilot Rolf Neslund
Date: June 11, 1978
Location: Duwamish Waterway, West Spokane Street Bridge
Event: Chavez struck the bridge at 2:38 a.m.
Topic: Corruption delayed a fixed-span bridge despite $16.7 million in Forward Thrust funds
- The Forward Thrust ballot measure passed in 1968 with 68% approval and included $16.7 million for a new high-level bridge.
- The city awarded a $1.5 million design contract to a non-bidding firm that cost triple other bids.
- Conspirators including the city engineer and state legislators were tried and imprisoned between 1976 and 1977.
- West Seattle had nearly 70,000 residents dependent on the single crossing in 1978.
- At 2:38 a.m. on June 11, 1978, the freighter Chavez collided with the 1924 bascule span, jamming it permanently open.
To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.
© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
The city that felt marooned suddenly had its connection severed at 2:38 a.m. on June 11, 1978, when the freighter Chavez drove its bow into the West Spokane Street Bridge and jammed the bascule spans open forever - and no one died. How did a decades-old, bribery-plagued infrastructure problem turn into the exact catastrophe a federal official once joked would finally free the money to replace it?
In this episode, we tell the sequence of events from the bridge’s origins around 1900 through the 1968 Forward Thrust funding, the corruption that killed the replacement project, public efforts to secede and secure funds, and the night a single ship made the stalled solution real - could a collision have been the only way to break the political logjam?
Person: Pilot Rolf Neslund
Date: June 11, 1978
Location: Duwamish Waterway, West Spokane Street Bridge
Event: Chavez struck the bridge at 2:38 a.m.
Topic: Corruption delayed a fixed-span bridge despite $16.7 million in Forward Thrust funds
- The Forward Thrust ballot measure passed in 1968 with 68% approval and included $16.7 million for a new high-level bridge.
- The city awarded a $1.5 million design contract to a non-bidding firm that cost triple other bids.
- Conspirators including the city engineer and state legislators were tried and imprisoned between 1976 and 1977.
- West Seattle had nearly 70,000 residents dependent on the single crossing in 1978.
- At 2:38 a.m. on June 11, 1978, the freighter Chavez collided with the 1924 bascule span, jamming it permanently open.
To listen to this podcast ad-free and access premium episodes, try our subscription with a 14-day free trial at obomedia.com.
© 2026 OBOMEDIA. All rights reserved.
This episode and its content (audio, text, and related materials) are the exclusive property of OBOMEDIA and are protected by applicable copyright laws. Reproduction, distribution, editing, or commercial use, in whole or in part, without prior written permission from OBOMEDIA is prohibited. For permissions, licensing, and business inquiries: [email protected].
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