The original St. Johns River Bridge was a four-lane concrete-and-steel causeway bridge constructed over the

St. Johns River The St. Johns River ( es, Río San Juan) is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida and its most significant one for commercial and recreational use. At long, it flows north and winds through or borders twelve counties. The drop in eleva ...

at the west outlet of Lake Monroe. It is a part of

Interstate 4 Interstate 4 (I-4) is an Interstate Highway located entirely within the U.S. state of Florida, maintained by the Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT). Spanning along a generally southwest–northeast axis, I-4 is entirely concurrent wi ...

, and spans the border between

Seminole The Seminole are a Native American people who developed in Florida in the 18th century. Today, they live in Oklahoma and Florida, and comprise three federally recognized tribes: the Seminole Nation of Oklahoma, the Seminole Tribe of Florida, an ...

and

Volusia Volusia County (, ) is located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida, stretching between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2 ...

Counties in

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

. On the Seminole side is Sanford and on the Volusia side is DeBary. The bridge's design, which lacked shoulders for disabled or wrecked vehicles to pull out of the flow of traffic, made it a severe bottleneck for commuters going to the Orlando Area beginning in the 1980s. A series of fatal traffic collisions on it and similarly-designed bridges statewide, most notably the

Interstate 75 Interstate 75 (I-75) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Great Lakes and Southeastern regions of the United States. As with most Interstates that end in 5, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, traveling from S ...

Lake Panasoffkee Bridge, led to a move in 2000 to use state emergency bridge funds similar to the contingency funds used to rebuild the

Sunshine Skyway Bridge The Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, often referred to as the Sunshine Skyway Bridge or the Sunshine Skyway, consists of a pair of long beam bridges with a central cable-stayed bridge that spans Lower Tampa Bay to connect St. Petersburg, ...

to begin planned reconstruction. Work began in 2001, and a new dual structure consisting of two three-lane spans, each with wide shoulders on either side, was fully opened in May 2004.Completed Project Replaces St. Johns River Bridge, Widens I-4
/ref> The old bridge was dismantled over the next few months. Upon completion, the new structure was officially renamed the St. Johns River Veterans Memorial Bridge.

References

External links

St. Johns River Veterans Memorial BridgeSt. Johns River Veterans Memorial Bridge - docs
Bridges in Seminole County, Florida Bridges in Volusia County, Florida Monuments and memorials in Florida Bridges completed in 1960 Bridges completed in 2004 Road bridges in Florida Bridges over the St. Johns River Bridges on the Interstate Highway System 1960 establishments in Florida Concrete bridges in the United States Girder bridges in the United States {{Florida-bridge-struct-stub

See also

References

External links