Tuesday, August 20, 2013

Bridges Across Miami

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By Celine Moore


Miami is a city located in southeastern Florida, one of the most populated counties in the United States, because of the nature of the city itself. Miami is is home to many large companies both nationally and internationally. Behind those magnificent sky-scrapers, the city of Miami holds other architectural destinations that travelers definitely would love to in seeing. These are the historic bridges in Miami, which will definitely add to your experience when visiting Miami.

Hook Square Bridge

Miami has a trio of truss bridges, the longest bridge is the Hook Square Bridge that was opened in 1930. Erected over the Miami Canal where it meets Hook Square in Miami Springs, this bridge runs a total length of 132 feet. Historically significant, this bridge was constructed with exposed structural rails on both roadsides where travelers pass by.

Curtiss Parkway Bridge

The Curtiss Parkway Bridge is another sort of bridge found in Miami-Dade County called a swinging truss bridge. Originally constructed in 1924 and renovated in 1941, this bridge was the first important bridge that crossed the Miami Canal in the Hialeah area. It is intended to have a center which rotates to facilitates boats travelling through the canal to go through the bridge. It presently runs with a total length of 109.9 feet.

McDaniel Memorial Bridge

This bridge was erected in 1939 by Massman Construction Company of Kansas City, Missouri.This bridge was structured to have a metal bolted cantilever through truss which extends its length for a length of 2072 feet. This bridge is known to be the first bridge recorded by Historicbridge.org, an institution which hopes to promote and preserve historically significant bridges in the U.S.

Coral Gables Canal Bridge

Coral Gables Canal Bridge, located along Hardee Road (64th Street) over Coral Gables Canal was built in 1930. The bridge employs a deck concrete arch design. Concrete arch bridges are the second most typical sorts of bridges found in Miami. Coral Gables is open to the the public and very popular, since with heavy water traffic in the area, it permits motorists to cross without waiting for boats to pass like they do on bascule bridges. The arches of this bridge are also built tall enough to allow boats to pass underneath the bridge simply.

Collins Canal Bridge is a bridge made of concrete arches over Collins Canal on West 23rd Street in Miami.. This bridge built in 1926 is the longest concrete bridge still functioning in Miami. It primarily grants the motorists to cross over Collins Canal while traveling in Miami Beach. Even though the designer of the bridge is still unrecorded to this day , this bridge was refurbished in 1962 and still preserves its historic condition.

Tamiami Canal Railroad Bridge

Tamiami Canal Railroad Bridge is another interesting bridge in Miami because unlike the previous bridges, this is a swing-type of bridge made from pratt through truss. What makes this bridge different is its main feature of being portable like a bascule bridge. The center leaf of the bridge pivots swing to the sides in order for boats to pass. Built in 1926 for the Seaboard Air Line Railway, this bridge runs 124 feet long and crosses the Tamiami Canal on Northwest South Stream Drive in the area of Miami Springs.

Old Rip Rap Road Bridge

Old Rip Rap Road Bridge is located in Montgomery, Ohio crossing the Great Miami River was erected in 1923. It happens to be one of the Miami bridges built around the truss bridge era. This bridge has been successfully reopened after restoration for public transportation services. Today it serves as the dead-end part of the Great Miami Recreation Trail bike trail.




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