Deception
Pass Park Foundation
serving those who care about
Deception Pass State Park
Before the bridge was built, travelers had to hope and wait for a ferry to take them from Fidalgo Island to Whidbey Island as there were no scheduled crossings. The ferry docked at Hoypus Point on Whidbey Island, now part of the park. It crossed over to Yokeko Point, near Dewey Beach on Fidalgo Island. Passenger ferries served Oak Harbor from Seattle, a twelve-hour ride each way in good weather.
In the early years of the 1900’s, a plan was suggested to connect Whidbey and Fidalgo by a bridge. Studies were completed, and the route considered feasible, but funds were not adequate to construct the bridge. In the Twenties, interest again grew in seeing the bridge become a reality. Picnics were held at Cranberry Lake at Deception Pass State Park to raise funds for a bridge.
The bridge was begun in 1934. The Wallace Bridge and Structural Company built the two-span Deception Pass Bridge, assisted by local out-of-work farmers who did general labor on the approaches and concrete work. Young men of the Civilian Conservation Corps also assisted with the approach routes, using dynamite to blast through the rock on both sides.
Pipes were laid from Cranberry Lake on the south side to pump water to make concrete in that area, and from Pass Lake on the north side for concrete on the north side. As the depression worsened, the plans became solidified with some funding assistance from the state. Pass Island had to have 10,000 cubic yards of fill added to allow the bridge to be level with both island approaches.
The final piece was a challenge. The last section was a few inches too big for the span it was to cross. An engineer used his slide rule to make some calculations, and figured that if the air was thirty degrees cooler, the piece would fit. At 4 a.m., during the cool of the morning, the piece was lowered into place, and fit perfectly! It took 12 months in all to build the bridge, at a cost of $315,000 for the contract and a total of just under $490,000. It cost more than that just to paint the bridge in the 1980’s!
The bridge was officially dedicated on July 31, 1935.
The first span, over Canoe Pass, is 511 feet long. The second span, over Deception Pass, is 976 feet. More than 700 cars crossed the bridge during its first hour of operation. Today, nearly 20,000 cars cross the bridge on an average day.
The bridge is about 180 feet above the water, depending on tidal level. It is 1487 feet long, over one quarter of a mile total. The roadway has two 11 foot lanes, plus a three foot sidewalk on each side. It is a cantilever bridge, meaning each side supports the other.
Now over 70 years old, the bridge is listed on the Register of Historic Places. It has transformed island life in every possible way.
Interestingly, a year before the bridge was built, local writer George Albert Kellogg had this to say about the possible effect of a future bridge:
“What will become, I wonder, of the mystery, the shaded quiet, and age-old charm of those deep swirling waters and the shores that confine them? The lone ferry, chugging in occasional passage; that sense of detachment from a prosaic world when once you’ve gotten across to the island?
“Do you suppose the island roads, congested with traffic, will invite the outdoor advertising companies to erect their billboards? Will these winding highways of dignified rural beauty end in a sacrifice to the brazenly flaunted values of clothing, cigarettes, and gasoline?”
Ironic and sobering thoughts in retrospect, are they not?