Terry Hild-The Mathers Bridge Project , Merritt Island FL. Mathers Bridge is a 700-foot-long (210 m) low-level swing bridge located on the southern tip of Merritt Island, Florida, crossing the Banana River at the end of County Road 3. The bridge was built in 1927 by John Mathers in order to connect Merritt Island to what is now Indian Harbour Beach, and was moved to its present location in 1952. It was constructed by the Austin Brothers Bridge Company. The bridge and the control house were rehabilitated in 2007. Overview- Swing bridge over Banana River on Banana River Drive (CR 3) in Indian Harbour Beach Location- Indian Harbour Beach, Brevard County, Florida Status Open to traffic History- Built 1927; rehabilitated 2005 Builder - Austin Brothers Bridge Co. of Dallas Texas/Atlanta, Georgia Design- Swing Dimensions- Length of largest span: 202.4 ft. Total length: 791.7 ft. Deck width: 22.0 ft. Also called- Banana River Bridge Approximate latitude, longitude +28.14922, -80.60600 (decimal degrees) 28°0857 N, 80°3622 W (degrees°minutesseconds) Approximate UTM coordinates 17/538685/3113795 (zone/easting/northing) Quadrangle map- Tropic Inventory numbers- FDOT 704063 (Florida Dept. of Transportation bridge number) BH 12320 (Bridgehunter ID) Inspection (as of 03/2012) Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9) Superstructure condition rating: Very Good (8 out of 9) Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9) Sufficiency rating: 65.9 (out of 100) Average daily traffic- 2,569 (as of 2012) Fun fact that I came past doing research on the bridge.. Mathers Bridge used be home to Mathers Bridge restaurant, which had unfortunately closed in 1992 after 52 years of business, due to the neighbors who had made their homes near the restaurant complained of the noise and cars. Across the street, there was also a small hotel, that burned down a few years before. Both buildings had murals painted by Wiccan artist Kevin Tipton, who had a passion for the local wildlife, painted 100 manatees on the side of the restaurant in support of a local manatee support charity. The hotel itself was painted for Egyptian lore, the roof adorned with the astrological signs. On the old fishing deck of the restaurant, was a sculpture he made of his own creation The Watcher, a sphinx who was made to be a guardian to the local wildlife. Over the course of 1988 to 1991, he had adorned the buildings nicely. Unfortunately, the only still standing is The Watcher, expansions to the bridge make the statue go largely unnoticed, tucked away with his face fall en, continuously guarding the manatees. Being popular in the “hippy era” of Melbourne, the area was popular amongst locals for apparitions and happy spirits. Despite the unfortunate condition of the area now, the local fishermen that fish off the bridge say on weekend nights, they can hear the faint tones of music coming from the old posts of the dock. (Submitted by Cayce C.) Source: hauntedplaces.org bridgehunter wikipedia.org
Posted on: Sun, 02 Nov 2014 22:46:15 +0000
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