- Mathews Bridge
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Mathews Bridge 
Official name John E. Mathews Bridge Carries four general purpose lanes Crosses St. Johns River Locale Jacksonville, Florida Maintained by Florida Department of Transportation ID number 720076 Design steel through truss bridge Total length 2248.2 meters (7736 feet) Width 17.7 meters (58 feet) Longest span 246.9 meters (810 feet) Vertical clearance 6.80 meters (22.3 feet) Clearance below 46.3 meters (152 feet) Opened April 15, 1953 Coordinates 30°19′37″N 81°37′05″W / 30.327°N 81.618°WCoordinates: 30°19′37″N 81°37′05″W / 30.327°N 81.618°W The Mathews Bridge is a truss bridge in Jacksonville, Florida, which spans the St. Johns River. Constructed in 1953, the bridge brings traffic along the Arlington Expressway between downtown Jacksonville and the Arlington neighborhood. It was named after John E. Mathews, a Florida state legislator and Chief Justice of the 1955 Florida Supreme Court who helped gather funding for the bridge's construction.[1]
Contents
Deck replacement
This 12.9 million dollar project replaced the existing open grate bridge deck previously on Mathews Bridge with an "Exodermic Deck" resulting in a concrete riding surface.
The bridge had a notoriously problematic grating in the center span. After the previous grating wore out, a new one was installed, causing drivers to complain that the replacement was slippery and difficult to cross. That grating was replaced with a new, "state of the art" grating, which also provoked controversy causing citizens to pressure the Jacksonville City Council to act again concerning the grating. This initially only resulted in reducing the speed limit and roughing up the grating. In 2007, the bridge underwent construction to replace the open grating over the center span with a concrete riding surface, and has since been reopened for public use.
Gallery
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Eastbound on the Mathews Bridge
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A shot looking below the Mathews Bridge
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Picture of the Mathews Bridge from across the water.
Popular Culture
The bridge is mentioned in the Limp Bizkit song My Generation. In singer Fred Durst's opening monologue, he invites drummer John Otto to "Take 'em to the Mathews Bridge", preceding the latter's drum solo.
References
External links
- Official Deck Replacement Project Website
- Local news article on the Mathews Bridge
- Official Site of the Mathews Bridge
St. Johns River crossings in the Jacksonville, Florida area Upriver from Downtown Shands Bridge (to be replaced or supplemented) | Buckman Bridge | Timuquana Bridge (never built)
Downtown Jacksonville Fuller Warren Bridge | FEC Strauss Trunnion Bascule Bridge | Acosta Bridge | Main Street Bridge | Hart Bridge | Mathews Bridge | 20th Street Extension (never built)
Downriver from Downtown Dames Point Bridge | State Road 113A (never built) | Mayport Ferry
Crossings of the St. Johns River Upstream
Hart Bridge
Mathews Bridge
Downstream
Dames Point Bridge
Future
Notable bridges and tunnels in Florida Panhandle Escambia Bay · Garcon Point · John Gorrie · Mid-Bay · Pensacola Bay · St. George Island · Trammell · Victory
North Acosta · Bridge of Lions · Buckman · Dames Point · Fuller Warren · Hart · Mathews · Memorial · Strauss Trunnion
West Central East Central A. Max Brewer · Bennett Causeway · Bert Dosh · Broadway · Eau Gallie Causeway · Granada · Melbourne Causeway · Merritt Island Causeway · NASA Causeway · Pineda Causeway · Port Orange Causeway · Roosevelt · Wabasso
South Broad Causeway · Cape Coral · Coral Springs† · Julia Tuttle Causeway · John F. Kennedy Causeway · John Ringling Causeway · Lehman Causeway · MacArthur Causeway · Matanzas Pass · Midpoint · Rickenbacker Causeway · Sanibel Causeway · Snow-Reed‡ · Venetian Causeway
Keys Bahia Honda · Card Sound · Jewfish Creek · Overseas Highway · Seven Mile
Tunnels † – Covered bridge‡ - Swing bridge
See also: List of bridges in FloridaCategories:- Bridges completed in 1953
- Bridges in Jacksonville, Florida
- Road bridges in Florida
- United States bridge (structure) stubs
- Florida building and structure stubs
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