Bridge of Lions

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For the Lviny Bridge in St Petersburg, see Bridge of Four Lions.

**Bridge of Lions**

Official name	Bridge of Lions
Carries	2 general purpose lanes and 2 sidewalks
Crosses	Matanzas River (Intracoastal Waterway)
Locale	St. Augustine, Florida
Maintained by	Florida Department of Transportation
ID number	780074
Design	steel bascule bridge
Longest span	26.5 meters (87 feet)
Total length	470.9 meters (1545 feet)
Width	10.3 meters (34 feet)
Vertical clearance	N/A
Clearance below	7.6 meters (25 feet) closed
Opening date	1927
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The Bridge of Lions is a bascule bridge that spans the Intracoastal Waterway in St. Augustine, Florida. Lions made of marble used to guard the bridge, built in 1926 and 1927 across Matanzas Bay. The lions were removed in February of 2005, and were expected to return about five years from that date. The Department of Transportation declared the bridge "structurally deficient and functionally obsolete" in 1999, prompting heated debates on what to do with the structure. A restoration plan was approved, but opponents continued to voice their opposition.

A new "temporary" bridge has been constructed adjacent to the old "bridge of lions", and as of May 18, 2006, traffic will use this temporary bridge while the old bridge is destroyed and reconstructed to look like its predecessor. Once the old bridge is rebuilt, at a cost of 38 million dollars, the temporary bridge will be destroyed [1].