The Jewfish Creek Bridge is a beam bridge in the

Florida Keys The Florida Keys are a coral cay archipelago located off the southern coast of Florida, forming the southernmost part of the continental United States. They begin at the southeastern coast of the Florida peninsula, about south of Miami, and e ...

. Spanning both Jewfish Creek and Lake Surprise, it carries the

Overseas Highway The Overseas Highway is a highway carrying U.S. Route 1 (US 1) through the Florida Keys to Key West. Large parts of it were built on the former right-of-way of the Overseas Railroad, the Key West Extension of the Florida East Coast Railwa ...

( U.S. Route 1) between the

and the Florida mainland. The bridge is tall and opened in 2008, replacing a small

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 ...

History

The original Jewfish Creek beam bridge opened for traffic in 1944 along with the current stretch of the Overseas Highway between Florida City and

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected b ...

(locally known as the 18 Mile Stretch). Prior to this, the Overseas Highway was connected to the mainland via the nearby

Card Sound Bridge Card Sound Bridge is a high-rise toll causeway connecting southern Miami-Dade County and northern Monroe County. It is one of only two ways that motorists can leave or enter the Florida Keys (the other is U.S. Route 1). The toll for two-axle ...

(which at the time was also a small drawbridge). The current route was built along the original right of way of the

Overseas Railroad The Overseas Railroad (also known as Florida Overseas Railroad, the Overseas Extension, and Flagler's Folly) was an extension of the Florida East Coast Railway to Key West, Florida, Key West, a city located beyond the end of the Florida peninsula ...

, which shortened the driving distance between Florida City and Key Largo by nearly . The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

, which continues to have a large presence in

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

, sought an improved access to the mainland during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

, which is the reason the Overseas Highway was rerouted onto the former railroad right of way. The original Card Sound Bridge was closed to vehicular traffic after the completion of the Jewfish Creek Bridge and its remains were destroyed by a fire shortly afterward. The current Card Sound Bridge opened in 1969, restoring the original route and giving the Florida Keys two vehicular accesses to the mainland. The Jewfish Creek

was replaced by the current bridge on May 22, 2008, as a part of larger $300 million project to reconstruct the entire stretch of U.S. 1 between Florida City and Key Largo. In addition to the drawbridge, the current bridge allowed for the removal of the Lake Surprise Causeway, which dated back to the days of the railroad, restoring the natural water flow into

Florida Bay Florida Bay is the bay located between the southern end of the Florida mainland (the Florida Everglades) and the Florida Keys in the United States. It is a large, shallow estuary that while connected to the Gulf of Mexico, has limited exchange o ...

. The project also included the addition of a jersey barrier between the northbound and southbound lanes throughout, passing lanes in various locations, and the replacement of the non-functional C-111 canal drawbridge with a small fixed bridge.

Features

The current structure is tall. It carries two lanes separated by a

Jersey barrier A Jersey barrier, Jersey wall, or Jersey bump is a modular concrete or plastic barrier employed to separate lanes of traffic. It is designed to minimize vehicle damage in cases of incidental contact while still preventing vehicle crossovers resu ...

, and also features outside berms to prevent road pollutants from entering

. Although the bridge bypasses the community of Jewfish, which is home to a marina and other businesses, exit ramps exist off of the main bridge provide access to Jewfish. The side and median barriers of the bridge are painted "Belize Blue," which was recommended by marine artist

Robert Wyland Wyland (born July 9, 1956) is an American artist and conservationist best known for his more than 100 ''Whaling Walls'', large outdoor murals featuring images of life-size whales and other sea life to call attention to the plight of whales thro ...

.New $330 Million Road to Florida Keys Completed
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Gallery

File:Jewfish Creek north side.JPG, North side of the bridge File:top of Jewfish Creek Bridge.JPG, Top of the bridge File:Jewfish Creek exit ramp.JPG, Exit ramps connecting area between Jewfish Creek and Lake Surprise

References

{{Bridges of Florida U.S. Route 1 Bridges completed in 2008 Bridges in Monroe County, Florida Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Road bridges in Florida 1944 establishments in Florida Concrete bridges in the United States Girder bridges in the United States Florida Keys Bridges completed in 1944

History

Features

Gallery

See also

References