The Belize City Swing Bridge is a

swing bridge A swing bridge (or swing span bridge) is a movable bridge that can be rotated horizontally around a vertical axis. It has as its primary structural support a vertical locating pin and support ring, usually at or near to its center of gravit ...

located in downtown

Belize City Belize City is the largest city in Belize. It was once the capital city, capital of the former British Honduras. According to the 2022 census, Belize City has a population of 63,999 people. It is at the mouth of the Haulover Creek, which is a ...

Belize Belize is a country on the north-eastern coast of Central America. It is bordered by Mexico to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the east, and Guatemala to the west and south. It also shares a maritime boundary with Honduras to the southeast. P ...

. It connects the north side of Belize City with the south side and spans Haulover Creek, a tributary of the Belize River. A tourist destination and historical landmark of Belize, it is the oldest swing bridge in

Central America Central America is a subregion of North America. Its political boundaries are defined as bordering Mexico to the north, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean to the east, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest. Central America is usually ...

and one of the few manually operated swing bridges in the world still in use. The Maritime Museum of Belize is located nearby.

History

Constructed in

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

, England, and brought to Belize City by a United States company in

New Orleans New Orleans (commonly known as NOLA or The Big Easy among other nicknames) is a Consolidated city-county, consolidated city-parish located along the Mississippi River in the U.S. state of Louisiana. With a population of 383,997 at the 2020 ...

, it was built to allow sailing fishing boats with tall masts to pass the bridge and continue up the river to offer supplies and services to the city. The construction of the new bridge replaced several wooden bridges that had been built by locals during the mid-19th century to cross the Haulover Creek. Haulover Creek is actually an inlet for the Belize River but was called so because cattlemen had to pull their cattle across the creek with ropes ("hauling over the creek"). The bridge was constructed in 1922 and installation was finished in 1923. It was manually opened by four men cranking by hand. The bridge was swung twice a day, once in the morning and again in the evening, to allow boat traffic through.

Renovations

The bridge was damaged in the category 5 1931 hurricane that hit the city. It was said to have moved into the street. Again damaged by

Hurricane Hattie Hurricane Hattie was the strongest and deadliest tropical cyclone of the 1961 Atlantic hurricane season, reaching peak intensity as a List of Category 5 Atlantic hurricanes, Category5 hurricane. The ninth Tropical cyclone, tropical storm, sevent ...

in 1961 and by

Hurricane Mitch Hurricane Mitch was an extremely deadly and catastrophic Atlantic hurricane, which became the second-deadliest tropical cyclone in the Atlantic basin on record. Mitch caused 11,374 fatalities in Central America in 1998, including approximately ...

in 1998, repairs were made after Mitch and further restoration was done in the first decade of the 21st century. Talks were made about automating the bridge however locals have balked at this realizing it would take away a major tourist destination in the city. In 1987, an approved donation by China, resulted in the design and thereafter, fabrication of a modern replacement bridge for the old Belize City swing bridge location. It was shipped to Belize in 1989 but never arrived. It was returned to China because Belize established diplomatic relations with Taiwan that year at the time of the shipment.

Operation

The bridge requires a minimum of four men to crank it by hand until it is perpendicular with Haulover Creek. After traffic has passed, it is hand cranked again until it has been returned to its parallel position with the creek. Traffic is halted for well over an hour before the process is completed. Since 2007, the bridge is only manually opened by special request as traffic on Haulover Creek is not as heavy as before.

In film

The Belize City Swing Bridge was shown in the 1980 film, '' The Dogs of War'', starring

Christopher Walken Christopher Walken (born Ronald Walken; March 31, 1943) is an American actor. Christopher Walken on stage and screen, His work on stage and screen has earned him List of awards and nominations received by Christopher Walken, accolades includin ...

. Scenes for the fictional African country of Zangaro were shot in

. The bridge was positioned parallel to the creek and then manually swung back into position in the scene.

External links

* Swing bridges Buildings and structures in Belize City Bridges in Belize Bridges completed in 1923 1923 establishments in the British Empire {{Belize-bridge-struct-stub