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Seven Mile Bridge

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Seven Mile Bridge
Seven Mile Bridge with the original in the foreground
Coordinates24°41′54″N 81°10′36″W / 24.6982°N 81.1767°W / 24.6982; -81.1767
Carries2 lanes of US 1
CrossesMoser Channel
LocaleFlorida Keys, Monroe County, Florida
Maintained byFlorida Department of Transportation
ID number900101
Characteristics
Designprecast segmented box girder bridge
Total length10887.5 meters (6.765 miles)
Width11.58 meters (38 ft)
Longest span41.15 meters (135 ft)
Clearance below19.81 meters (65 ft)
History
Construction cost$45 million [1]
OpenedMay 24, 1982
Location
Map

The Seven Mile Bridge is a bridge in the Florida Keys, in Monroe County, Florida, United States. It connects Knight's Key (part of the city of Marathon, Florida) in the Middle Keys to Little Duck Key in the Lower Keys. Among the longest bridges in existence when it was built, it is part of the Overseas Highway in the Keys, which is part of the 2,369-mile U.S. Route 1.

There are two bridges in this location. The modern bridge is open to vehicular traffic; the older one only to pedestrians and cyclists. The older bridge, originally known as the Knights Key-Pigeon Key-Moser Channel-Pacet Channel Bridge, was constructed from 1909 to 1912 under the direction of Henry Flagler and Clarence S. Coe as part of the Florida East Coast Railway's Key West Extension, also known as the Overseas Railroad.

History

Entrance plaque

After the railroad was damaged by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the line was sold to the United States government, which refurbished Seven Mile Bridge for automobile use. Unsupported sections were added in 1935 to widen it for vehicular traffic. Dismantled trackage was recycled, painted white, and used as guardrails. It had a swing span to allow passage of boats in the Moser Channel of the Intracoastal Waterway, near where the bridge crosses Pigeon Key, a small island that held a work camp for Flagler's railroad. Hurricane Donna in 1960 caused further damage.

The current road bridge was constructed from 1978 to 1982.

The vast majority of the original bridge still exists, although the swing span has been removed. The 2.2-mile section to Pigeon Key, used as a fishing pier and long open to motorized vehicles to give access to the key, was closed to motorized traffic in 2008 after the unsupported sections began to sag. As of 2015, the section remains open to pedestrians and bicyclists.[2][3] In 2014, the Florida Department of Transportation approved a $77 million plan to restore the old bridge.[4]

Engineering

The new bridge is a box-girder structure built from precast, prestressed concrete sections, comprising 440 spans. Near the center, the bridge rises in an arc to provide 65-foot (20 m)-high clearance for boat passage. The remainder of the bridge is considerably closer to the water surface. The new bridge does not cross Pigeon Key.

The total length of the new bridge is actually 35,862 ft (10,931 m) or 6.79 miles (10.93 km), and is shorter than the original. The bridge carries the Florida Keys aqueduct, supplying water to points west, as well as fiber optic cables, providing telecommunications to and from the lower Keys.[5]

Each April, the bridge is closed for about 2.5 hours on a Saturday to allow the Seven Mile Bridge Run, a "fun run" of some 1,500 runners that commemorates the Florida Keys bridge rebuilding project. The event began in 1982 to commemorate the completion of a federally funded bridge building program that replaced spans that oil tycoon Henry Flagler constructed in the early 1900s to serve as a foundation for his Overseas Railroad.

The Seven Mile Bridge was engineered by Figg & Muller Engineers (who also engineered the much taller Sunshine Skyway Bridge). The structure was completed six months ahead of schedule and has earned eight awards, including an Exceptional Award for Cost Savings Innovation from the Federal Highway Administration.[6]

In fiction

The bridge has been featured in films and television series, such as Licence to Kill,[7] True Lies,[8][9] 2 Fast 2 Furious,[10] and Burn Notice. It was also featured in the novel "Decò" by Miami author J.J. Colagrande, published by Jitney Books.

See also

References

  1. ^ Wilkinson, Jerry. "HISTORY of the OVERSEAS HIGHWAY". KEYS HISTOREUM. Historical Preservation Society of the Upper Keys. Retrieved 1 June 2016.
  2. ^ Toppino, Nancy (2008-11-18). Florida Keys and Key West. Globe Pequot Press. p. 271. ISBN 9780762748716. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  3. ^ Gross, Bonnie. "Florida Keys: The Old Seven Mile Bridge in Marathon". floridarambler.com. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  4. ^ Elaine, Glusac (2014-04-03). "In the Keys, New Plans for an Old Bridge". New York Times. Retrieved 2015-01-17.
  5. ^ "Fiery crash reminds residents of isolation".
  6. ^ "Seven Mile Bridge". Structurae.
  7. ^ Reeves, Tony. "Licence to Kill | 1989". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Retrieved 6 February 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  8. ^ Reeves, Tony (7 September 2014). "True Lies Film Locations". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Retrieved 6 February 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  9. ^ "New Netflix Series and Others Spotlight the Florida Keys". The Florida Keys and Key West. 2 March 2015. Retrieved 6 February 2018. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  10. ^ "2 Fast 2 Furious - Production Notes Page 2". contactmusic.net. 10 June 2003. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
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