Bridge of Lions
| Bridge of Lions | |
|---|---|
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| Carries | 2 general purpose lanes of  SR A1A and 2 sidewalks |
| Crosses | Matanzas River (Intracoastal Waterway) |
| Locale | St. Augustine, Florida |
| Official name | Bridge of Lions |
| Maintained by | Florida Department of Transportation |
| ID number | 780074 |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | steel bascule bridge |
| Total length | 470.9 meters (1545 feet) |
| Width | 10.3 meters (34 feet) |
| Longest span | 26.5 meters (87 feet) |
| Clearance above | N/A |
| Clearance below | 7.6 meters (25 feet) closed |
| History | |
| Opened | February 26, 1927 |
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Bridge of Lions
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| Location |
St. Augustine, Florida  United States
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| Coordinates | 29°53′33″N 81°18′27″W / 29.89250°N 81.30750°WCoordinates: 29°53′33″N 81°18′27″W / 29.89250°N 81.30750°W |
| Built | 1927 |
| Architect | J. E. Greiner |
| NRHP Reference # | 82001040 |
| Added to NRHP | November 19, 1982 |
The Bridge of Lions is a double-leaf bascule bridge that spans the Intracoastal Waterway in St. Augustine, Florida, United States. A part of State Road A1A, it connects downtown St. Augustine to Anastasia Island. A pair of copies of the 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 United States 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.
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.
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.
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Wikipedia