The bridge unofficially known as the Alva Bridge is a small two-lane

drawbridge A drawbridge or draw-bridge is a type of moveable bridge typically at the entrance to a castle or tower surrounded by a moat. In some forms of English, including American English, the word ''drawbridge'' commonly refers to all types of moveable ...

located in

Alva, Florida Alva is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States, situated on the Caloosahatchee River. The population was 2,725 at the 2020 census, up from 2,596 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Cap ...

. The bridge is 21 feet tall and it is one of four vehicle drawbridges in Lee County. The bridge carries Broadway over the

Caloosahatchee River The Caloosahatchee River is a river on the southwest Gulf Coast of Florida in the United States, approximately long.U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed April 18, 2011 It dr ...

History

The first bridge at this site was a small

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravity, about which the swing span (turning span) can then pi ...

constructed in 1903, and it was the closest bridge to

Fort Myers Fort Myers (or Ft. Myers) is a city in southwestern Florida and the county seat and commercial center of Lee County, Florida, United States. The Census Bureau's Population Estimates Program calculated that the city's population was 92,245 in 20 ...

up until 1924. In 1925, the original bridge was replaced with a new

. The old swing bridge was then dismantled and taken to

Matlacha, Florida Matlacha ( "MAT-la-shay") is a census-designated place (CDP) in Lee County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 598. It is part of the Cape Coral-Fort Myers, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. Matlacha ...

, where it operated as the

Matlacha Bridge The Matlacha Pass Bridge (pronounced "Mat-La-Shay") is a small single-leaf drawbridge located in Matlacha, Florida. It carries County Road 78 (Pine Island Road) over Matlacha Pass, connecting Pine Island with the mainland in Cape Coral. The f ...

for a year before being destroyed by a

hurricane A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

. The new swing bridge operated until 1966, when it was destroyed by a

barge Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels ...

transporting rocket parts to the

Kennedy Space Center The John F. Kennedy Space Center (KSC, originally known as the NASA Launch Operations Center), located on Merritt Island, Florida, is one of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's (NASA) ten field centers. Since December 1968 ...

. The second swing bridge then had to be replaced by the current drawbridge, a bascule-type bridge which opened in 1969, after three years of construction. File:Alva Bridge.jpg, The Alva Bridge as seen from the north river bank File:Alva Bridge open.jpg, Alva Bridge open for vessel traffic as seen from Broadway on the south side File:Old Alva Bridge.jpg, Former swing bridge

References

{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Alva Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream =

Fort Denaud Bridge The Fort Denaud Bridge is a historic swing bridge located in Fort Denaud, Florida, a small community in Hendry County between Alva and LaBelle. The bridge crosses the Caloosahatchee River and is one of three vehicle swing bridges in Southwest ...

, upstream signs = , downstream =

Wilson Pigott Bridge The Wilson Pigott Bridge (also locally known as the State Road 31 Bridge) is a small two-lane drawbridge located near Fort Myers Shores in Lee County, Florida. It is one of four drawbridges in Lee County. It is 27 feet tall. The Wilson Pigott ...

, downstream signs = Road bridges in Florida Bridges in Lee County, Florida Bridges completed in 1903 Bridges completed in 1925 Bridges completed in 1969 Bascule bridges in the United States Bridges over the Caloosahatchee River 1903 establishments in Florida Concrete bridges in the United States