Bridge of Lions
The Bridge
of Lions is a double-leaf bascule
bridge that spans the
Intracoastal Waterway in St. Augustine, Florida. A part of State Road A1A, it connects downtown St. Augustine to
Anastasia Island. A pair of Medici
lions made of marble guard the
bridge, begun in 1925 and completed in 1927 across Matanzas
Bay. The lions
were removed in February 2005 and returned in March 2011.
Roads &
Bridges magazine named
the Bridge of Lions as fourth in the nation’s top 10 bridges for 2010. Projects
were evaluated based on size, community impact and challenges resolved.
The Department
of Transportation declared the bridge "structurally deficient and
functionally obsolete" in 1999, prompting heated debates on what to do
with the structure. A restoration plan was approved, but opponents continued to
voice their opposition. Reynolds, Smith & Hills from nearby
Jacksonville was awarded the engineering and design contract, estimated at $77
million, and projected to require five years to complete.
First Bridge
Prior to the
Bridge of Lions in 1925, there was a wooden bridge, called simply, "The
Bridge to Anastasia Island" or "South Beach railroad bridge". It
was built in 1895, and after a major renovation in 1904, the bridge could
accommodate a trolley. The span contained no rise, and had a movable opening
for ship traffic, and charged a toll for transit.
Original Bridge of Lions
The old bridge
frequently broke down, leading to calls for its replacement over the years. The
man considered the "Father of the Bridge of Lions" was Henry
Rodenbaugh, the vice president and bridge expert for Henry Flagler's Florida
East Coast Railway. In the early 1920s he organized the bond issue to finance
the new bridge, selected engineer J. E. Greiner to design it—and had his young
daughter Jean pour the first bucket of concrete when the work began in 1925.
Its construction came at the height of the extravagant Florida land boom of the
1920s, and the bridge is one of its greatest landmarks. It was designed not
merely to carry cars, but to be a work of art, and it cost ten times as much as
more prosaic bridges constructed nearby at the same time. It was completed
after the land boom busted, and the 1927 dedication ceremony had to be paired
with the annual Ponce de Leon Celebration in cash-strapped St. Augustine.
The Bridge of
Lions is listed on the National Register of Historic Places and was included by
the National Trust for Historic Preservation (NTHP) on its list of the "11
Most Endangered Historic Sites" in the nation for 1997. The Bridge of
Lions was later featured on the cover of the Trust's 1999 engagement calendar.
From its
earliest days, it was hailed as "The Most Beautiful Bridge in Dixie."
It has long been a symbol of the nation's oldest city.
It gets its
name from two Carrara marble Medici
lions statues that
are copies of those found in the Loggia
dei Lanzi in Florence, Italy. The statues
were a gift of Dr. Andrew Anderson (1839–1924),
the builder of the Markland House, who spent the last decade of his life
putting works of art in public places in the Ancient City. The statues were his
last gift, and he did not live long enough to see them installed. He had them
made by the Romanelli Studios in Florence, Italy, which a decade earlier had
provided him with smaller versions which he displayed on the front steps at
Markland. The lions are a symbol of the Spanish royal family.
Replacement bridge
A
"temporary" bridge was constructed adjacent to the original bridge
and traffic was diverted to this structure while the original bridge was being
rehabilitated and reconstructed to look like its predecessor After nearly 80
years of service, an official closing ceremony for the original Bridge of Lions
was held on May 26, 2006. Isabella Heard, one of the young girls on the lead
float in the opening of the bridge in 1927, was there, in a wheelchair, to tie
the ribbon for its closing 79 years later.
Several components
of the original bridge were either being rehabilitated or returned (as lost
components) to the rehabilitated bridge. Primarily, the exterior or fascia
steel girders are being rehabiliated along with the bascule tower piers. Once
the rehabilitation of the original bridge is completed, at a total project cost
of $80 million and 4 percent over budget, The temporary bridge was removed and
used as part of an artificial reef just offshore. The two lions were in safe
storage for the duration of the construction.
New Bridge of Lions
Renovation work
was completed on March 17, 2010 when it reopened for use Following the removal
of the temporary bridge (to an offshore reef), and landscaping, the restored
Lion statues were returned after a 6-year absence, early in the morning of
March 15, 2011 principally completing the bridge renovation project.
The current
bridge's west entrance features manicured gazebos, landscaped palmtrees and a
new publicly accessible dock extending partially into the bay.
.jpg)
No comments:
Post a Comment