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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 length35,719.2 feet 6.765 miles (10.887 km)
Width38 feet (12 m)
Longest span135 feet (41 m)
Clearance below65 feet (20 m)
History
Construction cost$45 million[1] (equivalent to $120 million in 2023 dollars)
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 (3,813 km) U.S. Route 1.[1][2]

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

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Highway surface being constructed over railroad superstructure
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 into Hawk Channel, 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.

In 1977 musician Jimmy Buffett was driving back to Key West when the swing bridge was open and got stuck in the open position causing a 3-hour delay to fix it. To kill time, he said he wrote the song Margaritaville while sitting on the hood of his car waiting for the bridge to reopen.

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 (3.5 km) 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.[3] In 2014, the Florida Department of Transportation approved a $77 million plan to restore the old bridge.[2] By 2017, the pedestrian section was closed for extensive repairs, and reopened in January 2022.[4]

Engineering

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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 for the Seven Mile Bridge Run 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

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The bridge has been featured in films and television series, such as Road House, Licence to Kill,[7] True Lies,[8][9] 2 Fast 2 Furious,[10] Burn Notice, and is seen in the upcoming video game Grand Theft Auto VI.

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Original Bridge

  • Illustration of FEC train crossing the bridge
    Illustration of FEC train crossing the bridge
  • Moser Channel swing span in the railroad-era
    Moser Channel swing span in the railroad-era
  • Approaching Pigeon Key post-highway conversion. Guardrails are made up of rails from the former railroad.
    Approaching Pigeon Key post-highway conversion. Guardrails are made up of rails from the former railroad.
  • 1955 view of the bridge.
    1955 view of the bridge.
  • Traffic waiting for the open swing span over Moser Channel.
    Traffic waiting for the open swing span over Moser Channel.
  • Severed segment after the bridge was closed to traffic.
    Severed segment after the bridge was closed to traffic.

Current Bridge

  • Current bridge
    Current bridge
  • Surface of the current bridge with original bridge and Pigeon Key in the background
    Surface of the current bridge with original bridge and Pigeon Key in the background

See also

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References

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  1. ^ a b Wilkinson, Jerry. "HISTORY of the OVERSEAS HIGHWAY". KEYS HISTOREUM. Historical Preservation Society of the Upper Keys. Retrieved June 1, 2016.
  2. ^ a b Elaine, Glusac (April 3, 2014). "In the Keys, New Plans for an Old Bridge". New York Times. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  3. ^ Gross, Bonnie. "Florida Keys: The Old Seven Mile Bridge in Marathon". floridarambler.com. Retrieved January 17, 2015.
  4. ^ "Old Florida Keys bridge reopens to pedestrians, bicyclists". AP News. Associated Press. January 12, 2022. Retrieved September 16, 2022.
  5. ^ "StackPath". www.firehouse.com. October 4, 2005.
  6. ^ "Seven Mile Bridge". Structurae.
  7. ^ Reeves, Tony. "Licence to Kill | 1989". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  8. ^ Reeves, Tony (September 7, 2014). "True Lies Film Locations". The Worldwide Guide to Movie Locations. Archived from the original on November 14, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  9. ^ "New Netflix Series and Others Spotlight the Florida Keys". The Florida Keys and Key West. March 2, 2015. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
  10. ^ "2 Fast 2 Furious - Production Notes Page 2". contactmusic.net. June 10, 2003. Archived from the original on July 29, 2017. Retrieved February 6, 2018.
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