The Eau Gallie Causeway connects

Eau Gallie, Florida Eau Gallie () is a section of the city of Melbourne, Florida, located on the city's northern side. It was an independent city in Brevard County from 1860 until 1969. That year residents of Eau Gallie and Melbourne voted to merge their governmen ...

(which merged with

Melbourne Melbourne ( ; Boonwurrung/Woiwurrung: ''Narrm'' or ''Naarm'') is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Victoria, and the second-most populous city in both Australia and Oceania. Its name generally refers to a met ...

in 1969), with SR A1A near

Indian Harbour Beach Indian Harbour Beach is a coastal city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. The population was 8,225 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne– Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area. It is nort ...

, across the

Indian River Lagoon The Indian River Lagoon is a grouping of three lagoons: the Mosquito Lagoon, the Banana River, and the Indian River, on the Atlantic Coast of Florida; one of the most biodiverse estuaries in the Northern Hemisphere and is home to more than 4,300 ...

. Located entirely within the Melbourne city limits, the causeway consists of a main bridge crossing over the

Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, then following th ...

and a relief bridge. The bridge is a key link in

SR 518 Route 518, or Highway 518, may refer to: Canada *Manitoba Provincial Road 518 * Ontario Highway 518 United Kingdom * A518 road United States * Florida State Road 518 * County Road 518 (Pasco County, Florida) * Louisiana Highway 518 * Mary ...

, Eau Gallie Boulevard, of which the causeway is a part.

History

In 1925, construction began on the first wooden bridge across the

. On February 22, 1926, George Washington's Birthday, the bridge opened to traffic. The bridge connected to a sand trail that led to Canova Beach. At this time, there was no railing on the bridge for a year after its construction. There are no records that anyone fell off the bridge during this time. In 1944 a section of the bridge burned. On February 22, 1955, George Washington's Birthday, a new multimillion-dollar concrete bridge was dedicated to Dr. William Jackson Creel. The second Eau Gallie Causeway featured a swing span drawbridge. The third bridge, a high-rise

causeway A causeway is a track, road or railway on the upper point of an embankment across "a low, or wet place, or piece of water". It can be constructed of earth, masonry, wood, or concrete. One of the earliest known wooden causeways is the Sweet Tra ...

, was completed in 1988. Just north of the bridge, the

splits to form the Banana River Lagoon east of the southern tip of

Merritt Island, Florida Merritt Island is a peninsula, commonly referred to as an island, in Brevard County, Florida, United States, located on the eastern Floridian coast, along the Atlantic Ocean. It is also the name of an unincorporated town in the central and sout ...

. Its southern tip has been known locally as Dragon's Point since 1971 when a green dragon was built there. However, in 2002 most of the dragon collapsed into the river and was nearly destroyed. From 1945 until 1971, State Road 3 extended from Merritt Island to Melbourne over both Mathers Bridge and the Eau Gallie Causeway; after the opening of the

Pineda Causeway State Road 404 (SR 404), the Pineda Causeway, is an east–west divided highway currently running from Interstate 95 (I-95) to SR A1A at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, US. It was opened as a toll road in 1971 and classified as ...

, SR 3 was removed from the Eau Gallie Causeway, and State Road 518 has been crossing the Intracoastal Waterway over it (and connecting with

Interstate 95 Interstate 95 (I-95) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the East Coast of the United States, running from U.S. Route 1, US Route 1 (US 1) in Miami, Miami, Florida, to the Houlton–Woodstock Border Crossing between M ...

) since then.

References

*Melbourne Bicentennial Book. July 4, 1976. Noreda B. McKemy and Elaine Murray Stone. Library of Congress: 76-020298
Road Trip to Florida
{{Bridges of Florida Causeways in Florida Bridges in Brevard County, Florida Bridges over the Indian River (Florida) Eau Gallie, Florida Indian River Lagoon Buildings and structures in Melbourne, Florida Road bridges in Florida Bridges completed in 1988