Floating 520 Bridge shining Texas colors over Labor Day Weekend
Sep 1, 2017, 8:56 AM | Updated: 12:22 pm
In solidarity with the victims of Hurricane Harvey, the Washington State Department of Transportation will light up the Highway 520 Bridge with Texas’ signature colors.
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Thursday night was the first time WSDOT lit up the sentinels on the floating 520 bridge in the official red, white and blue colors of Texas, as displayed on the state’s lone star flag. The lights will remain in Texas hues over Labor Day Weekend.
The sentinels are large, statuesque structures that line the profile of the floating bridge near its supports. They are usually lit up at night with a teal color to show the location of the 520 bridge over Lake Washington in the dark.
WSDOT has the option of lighting the bridge in a variety of colors using its variable lighting system. For example, purple and gold during Husky games in Seattle. The Texas colors are the first time that the variable lighting system has been used beyond the usual teal.
Recovery from Hurricane Harvey is expected to take years and cost billions. The Houston area was struck hard when the storm hit land, flooding the entire region and putting homes under water. A total of 39 dead are confirmed to be among the victims of the storm. More than 7,000 homes were destroyed by Harvey, and more than 37,000 homes were severely damaged. It has left 325,000 people seeking federal emergency aid.
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