Drivers on Interstate 4 near DeBary may notice a spidery steel structure off the shore of Lake Monroe across the river from the electric plant. That’s the remains of the Lake Monroe Bridge.
Built in 1933, the bridge was Florida’s last swing bridge. The center section of the bridge swiveled to allow boat traffic to pass, 13 feet below. Unlike a similar bridge in Astor where the bridge was moved with a hand crank, this was the first Florida swing bridge to be powered by an electric motor.
The bridge was 627 feet long and its swing span was 235 feet. The original contract for the structure came in at $125,225, or about $3 million in today’s dollars. Built with the help of federal funding, it provided much-needed jobs in the depths of the Great Depression.
Remains of swing bridge near DeBary now used as fishing pier
The bridge replaced a wooden bridge, that had operated as a toll bridge until it was bought by Volusia County in 1926. Before that, a flat-bed ferry plied the lake.
The swivel bridge was replaced in 1994 by the Bill Benedict Bridge serving State Road 17-92. But part of the old bridge still stands at its original location and is used as a popular fishing pier.
This article originally appeared on The Daytona Beach News-Journal: The last of the swivel bridges in Volusia County was built in 1933
Reporting by Mark Lane, Special to The News-Journal / The Daytona Beach News-Journal
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
