11 Most Endangered

Bridge of Lions

Year Listed: 1997
Location: St. Augustine , Florida
Current Status: Favorable
Threat: Road Construction

Latest News

St. Augustine's Bridge of Lions is scheduled to reopen in 2010.

Significance

Facing calls for its replacement with a new, larger bridge, St. Augustine's Bridge of Lions is in danger of being destroyed. The 1927 bridge has been carrying traffic over the Matanzas River for almost 75 years and is a fittingly picturesque entry into one of America's oldest cities. Featuring marble lions guarding the western portal, tile-roofed towers flanking the draw and 23 pairs of graceful arches, the Bridge of Lions has become an integral component of St.Augustine's historic landscape and skyline as well as a symbol of civic pride. Citing ever-increasing maritime and car traffic, the likes of which could never have been imagined in the 1920's, there have been calls for a wider, "safer" bridge to replace the current historic one.

Updates

The condition of the existing bridge warrants an extensive bridge rehabilitation. The rehabilitation efforts will blend with the ornate architecture of the existing bridge while maintaining current bridge design requirements. Superstructure elements including the bridge deck, interior steel framing elements, and bridge railing will be replaced. Rehabilitation efforts will focus on repairing the existing arched steel plate girders to be re-used in the rehabilitated structure. Introduction of interior steel stringers, parallel to the arched steel plate girders, will lessen the design loadings carried by the rehabilitated arched steel plate girders. Current load limits will be removed due to the increased load carrying capacity of the rehabilitated superstructure. Substructure elements including the reinforced concrete piers, abutments and associated foundations will be removed in their entirety due to advanced deterioration and overall poor quality of concrete. The anticipated completion date is 2010.