Bridge of Lions
Official name	Bridge of Lions
Carries	2 general purpose lanes and 2 sidewalks
Crosses	Matanzas River (Intracoastal Waterway)
Locale	St. Augustine, Florida
Maintained by	Florida Department of Transportation
ID number	780074
Design	steel bascule bridge
Longest span	26.5 meters (87 feet)
Total length	470.9 meters (1545 feet)
Width	10.3 meters (34 feet)
Vertical clearance	N/A
Clearance below	7.6 meters (25 feet) closed
Opening date	1927
Maps and aerial photos Satellite image from WikiMapia,Google Maps or Live Search Maps Street map from Google Maps or Yahoo! Maps Topographic map from TopoZone Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA

The Bridge of Lions is a bascule bridge that spans the Intracoastal Waterway in St. Augustine, Florida. Lions made of marble used to guard the bridge, built in 1926 and 1927 across Matanzas Bay. The lions were removed in February of 2005, and are expected to return about five years from that date. 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. Saint Petersburg (Russian: Санкт-Петербу́рг, English transliteration: Sankt-Peterburg), colloquially known as Питер (transliterated Piter), formerly known as Leningrad (Ленингра́д, 1924–1991) and... Mid 20th-century view of the bridge. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1200x831, 803 KB) w:Bridge of Lions, w:St. ... Matanzas River is a body of water located in St. ... Tug and barge on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Navigation on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), where it intersects with Bayou Perot, in the vicinity of New Orleans The Intracoastal Waterway is a 4,800-km (3,000-mile) recreational and commercial waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the... Nickname: Location in St. ... The Florida Department of Transportation, or FDOT, is a decentralized agency charged with the establishment, maintenance, and regulation of public transportation in the state of Florida[1]. // Achievements In 1974, FDOT completed Floridas Turnpike, a 450-mile system of limited access toll highways. ... The National Bridge Inventory (NBI) is a database, compiled by the Federal Highway Administration, with information on all bridges and tunnels in the United States that have roads passing above or below. ... For other uses, see Steel (disambiguation). ... Salmon Bay Bridge, Seattle, USA; a single leaf through truss with an above-deck counterweight A bascule bridge is a drawbridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or leaf, throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Salmon Bay Bridge, Seattle, USA; a single leaf through truss with an above-deck counterweight A bascule bridge is a drawbridge with a counterweight that continuously balances the span, or leaf, throughout the entire upward swing in providing clearance for boat traffic. ... Tug and barge on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway Navigation on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway (GIWW), where it intersects with Bayou Perot, in the vicinity of New Orleans The Intracoastal Waterway is a 4,800-km (3,000-mile) recreational and commercial waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of the... Nickname: Location in St. ... For other uses, see Lion (disambiguation). ... Venus de Milo, front. ... Year 1926 (MCMXXVI) was a common year starting on Friday (link will display the full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Year 1927 (MCMXXVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar) of the Gregorian calendar. ... Matanzas River is a body of water located in St. ... This article is about the year. ...

A new "temporary" bridge has been constructed adjacent to the original "bridge of lions", and as of May 18, 2006, traffic started using this temporary bridge while the original bridge is being rehabilitated and reconstructed to look like its predecessor.[1] After nearly 80 years of service, an official closing ceremony for the original Bridge of Lions was held on May 26, 2006.

Several components of the original bridge are 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 rehabiliation of the original bridge is completed, at a total project cost of 77 million dollars, the temporary bridge will be removed and used as part of an artificial reef just offshore.^{[citation needed]}

References

Stone lion on the bridge

• Florida, DK Eyewitness Travel Guides, 2004, pg. 197
• staugustine.com - [2]

FDOT, Bridge of Lions Rehab Project - http://www.fdotbridgeoflions.com/ Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1181x793, 496 KB) A stone lion on the w:Bridge of Lions, w:St. ... Image File history File linksMetadata Download high-resolution version (1181x793, 496 KB) A stone lion on the w:Bridge of Lions, w:St. ...