Lake Keechelus Snowshed Bridge, Interstate 90, Hyak, Kittitas County, WA

Significance: The Lake Keechelus Snowshed is the only concrete snowshed in Washington. It is significant as an early example of a structure built through the use of an innovative technique that involved the combination of both precast and cast in place elements. / The building of Lake Keechelus Snowshed Bridge in 1951 was a watershed in the maintenance of a particularly troublesome stretch of the state highway system. Located on the east side of Snoqualmie Pass in the Cascade Mountains, along what is now Interstate 90, it was designed to provide permanent protection from snowslides for what is one of the most heavily used mountain passes in the United States. It was built synchronously with another snowshed, now demolished; both were conceived as forerunners of what was intended to be a huge program to cover a significant portion of the Snoqualmie Pass. The other snowsheds, however, were never built.
Unprocessed Field note material exists for this structure: N156
Survey number: HAER WA-110
Building/structure dates: 1951 Initial Construction