Seattle is among the biggest cities in the US northwest. Also, it’s well-known for the fact that the city is as a birthplace of the Microsoft founder Bill Gates and the famous Starbucks coffee houses.
However, besides of this, Seattle is a destination where the most challenging engineering ideas were turned into reality. Are you a future building designer or someone who just likes to explore the grandiose construction? Seattle in Washington will be the most desirable location for your trip. Having rented a car on this site, you can easily find the objects listed below, as the addresses and coordinates of all sights are provided.
Seattle Aquarium
Seattle Aquarium is one of the largest aquariums in the US. It accepts over 800,000 of visitors a year and offers several incredible expositions.
The newest and the most noteworthy exposition is the ‘Window to the Washington Water’ – a huge aquarium with the capacity of 450,000 liters. It represents river and marine life of Washington’s coastal waters including salmon, large sea bass and sea anemone.
‘The Pacific Coral Reefs’ is another exposition of the Seattle Aquarium. This is a large 95,000-liter reservoir with artificial reefs which allows exploring a small fish.
The most fascinating exhibition is presented in the ‘Underwater Dome’, where visitors can observe the marine life in a transparent spherical room located in 1,500,000-liter tank.
Address: 1483 Alaskan Way
Coordinates: 47.607417, -122.342165
Operating Hours: Monday-Sunday 9.30am-5pm
Ticket rates: adult (ages 13 and over)-$22.95, youth (4-12)-$15.95, child (3 and under)-free of charge
The Space Needle Tower
Seattle’s Space Needle is the most recognizable landmark in the northwest of the Pacific coast of the USA and also the symbol of the city. It was built in late 1962, but continues to attract thousands of visitors.
The Space Needle Tower is a huge andimpressive construction built in a futuristic style. The height of the tower is 184meters and its width is 42meters at the widest point.The weight of the whole construction is9550tons.
Space Needle was built in such a way that it can withstand hurricanes with wind speed of 320 km/h and earthquakes of 9.1 points, which is 2 times higher than the recommended building standards. It’s interesting to know that when the weather is windy, the tower deviates by about 1 inch for every 10 miles per hour of wind speed.
The major feature of the tower is an observation platform at a height of 159 meters and the SkyCity restaurant. In fact, from the highest point of the Space Needle you’ll be able to admire not only the Seattle’s city center, but also the beautiful surrounding islands, Mount Rainier, Elliott Bay and the Cascade Mountains.
Address: 400 Broad St
Coordinates: 47.620321, -122.349567
Operating Hours: Monday-Sunday 10am-9.30pm
Ticket rates: $13/person, $18/person for 2 visits in 24 hours
Boeing Everett Factory
Boeing Everett Factory is an aircraft assembly plant located not far from Seattle. The total volume of the building is more than 13,385,378 cubic meters. The building is so huge, that the leadership of the Boeing Everett Factory was forced to hire lots of additional companies to service the area.
You can take Future of Flight Aviation Tour to admire an incredible size of the building and see how world’s most popular aircrafts are assembled. Among them are Boeing 747, Boeing 767 and 777 as well as the latest development – Boeing 787 Dreamliner. Generally, over 1,500 Boeings have been manufactured at the factory within the period of its existence.
Address: 8415 Paine Field Boulevard, Everett
Coordinates: 47.921285, -122.291455
Operating Hours: Monday-Sunday 8.30am-5.30pm
Ticket rates: adult-$20, youth (15 and under)-$14, online reservation – $18 and $12 respectively
Columbia Center
Columbia Center is the highest skyscraper of Seattle. With the height of 285 meters, it’s also the highest construction on the west side of the Mississippi River, the 2-nd highest on the West Coast and the 12-th highest building in the United States.
Columbia Center features 76 floors, and the total area of the interior space is over 140 thousand square meters. The building has also a 7-storey underground parking. The budget of the construction is about $200 million. The main constructive materials of the building are glass and steel.
On the 73rd floor of the skyscraper there’s an observation deck overlooking the city. On the 75th and 76th floors there are bars, restaurants, a library and meeting rooms.
Address: 701 5th Avenue
Coordinates: 47.604212, -122.331018
Operating Hours: Monday-Sunday 10am-8pm
Ticket rates: adult-$14.25, youth (6-12)-$9, child (5 and under)-free of charge
As you see, Seattle is a very interesting destination from the engineering point of view. So, if you like science or just want to spend several memorable days in Seattle, it’s recommended to visit the most grandiose city’s constructions.
