Saturday, May 11, 2013

Jacksonville: City of Bridges - The Dames Point Bridge [Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge]

Jacksonville is called the 'City of Bridges' for a reason.  Every school day when I commute to work I travel over what is known to most motorists as the 'Dames Point Bridge' which is part of the I-295 Interstate road system.  It's offical name is the Napoleon Bonaparte Broward Bridge connecting Arlington and the Northside.  It is named after the 19th Governor of Florida and a former Duval County Sheriff.  I don't know why it took me so long but I finally noticed the other morning the fresh coat of paint the span cables recieved last year.  So I made a mental note on way home after school to stop and take a couple of personal photos of the bridge I've been taking for granted every morning. This is our tax dollars at work and I couldn't be more pleased.  Here are a couple of facts about this beautiful bridge that was offically opened on March 10th, 1989. It took four years to build and is one of the largest cable-stayed bridges in the U.S.  It has 21 miles of cable and 175 ft. high.  Its longest span is 1,300 feet [the main span] and an average of 75,000 vehicles a day make thier way across.  In 1989 dollars it cost $117 million and in 2013 dollars that comes to over $500 million.  I shot the photo below with our Canon Rebel xsi EOS with a 35mm lens on automatic setting.

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