It's a steel through truss bridge that crosses the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida.
The Mathews Bridge in Jacksonville, Florida spans the St. Johns River, bringing traffic along Arlington Expressway between Arlington and Downtown. 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.
It's had a bit of controvery in the problematic steel grating that's been responsible for a number of accidents. A $12.9 million project recently replaced the exodermic grating with a concrete riding surface.
Traffic count average daily: 66,500
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Mathews Bridge at a glance
The Mathews Bridge in Jacksonville, Florida spans the St. Johns River, bringing traffic along Arlington Expressway between Arlington and Downtown. 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. [http://www.unf.edu/library/sc/mathewsbio.html]
Mathews Bridge Factoids
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
Longest span: 246.9 meters (810 feet)
Total length: 2248.2 meters (7736 feet)
Width: 17.7 meters (58 feet)
Vertical clearance: 6.80 meters (22.3 feet)
Clearance below: 46.3 meters (152 feet)
Opening date: 1953
Mathews Bridge view from below
Exodermic 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.
Accidents: Problematic Steel Grating
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.
Arlington Expressway Traffic
The Mathews Bridge carries traffic along Arlington Expressway between Arlington and Downtown.
Arlington Expressway at a glance
aka Florida State Road 115
State Road 115 (SR 115) is a state highway in the U.S. state of Florida.
Crosses the St. Johns River
The Mathews Bridge is a steel through truss bridge that spans 7,736 feet over the St. Johns River.
St. Johns River at a glance
The St. Johns River (officially Saint Johns River, but commonly spelled 'St. Johns River') is the longest river in the U.S. state of Florida, stretching 310 miles (500 km) from Indian River County to the Atlantic Ocean in Jacksonville in Duval County. The Saint Johns is north-flowing, which is somewhat unusual among U.S. rivers
The elevation change from headwaters to mouth is only about 30 feet, making the St. Johns one of the worlds "laziest" rivers. Extremely low velocity and low volume of flow, combined with the generally level elevation, cause the St. Johns to spread out to a great width for much of its course. During periods of low flow, the river can be influenced by tides as far south as Lake Monroe - 161 miles inland. For a distance of over twenty miles before arriving at downtown Jacksonville, the river's average width exceeds two miles and some points exceed three miles in width. The slow flow of the St. Johns makes it difficult for pollutants to be flushed from the waters, which has become a serious problem for the river ecosystem. It was designated as one of the American Heritage Rivers in 1997 and pegged by an environmental organization as the 6th Most Endangered River in America in 2008.http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/apr2008/2008-04-17-01.asp Still, the river is home to numerous species of plants and animals. It is not uncommon to see dolphins in the river east of Jacksonville and manatees in the springtime when the water warms up. Alligators, bald eagles, ospreys, stingrays, and many species of fish?both salt and fresh water?are found living in the river and on its banks. The entire basin is managed by the St. Johns Water Management District.
A bit of trivia ...
On the Limp Bizkit song My Generation, Fred Durst makes a reference to the bridge saying "John Otto, take 'em to the Mathews Bridge."
Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water
Find that song on this album!
Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water
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The splicing together of nu metal, rap, funk, and sterile electronica laced with dark melodies as infectious as anything Britney has to offer inspired 6 million people to purchase copies of Limp Bizkit's Significant Other. With Chocolate Starfish, they perfect their formula. From the electro-infused "Intro" through the contagiously chugging "My Generation" to the straight-up rap of "Getcha Groove On," Chocolate Starfish is a slick, clinical, and flawless platform for Fred Durst's effortlessly savage--and occasionally unintentionally comic--sociological rants geared toward disaffected youth. Ultimately, though, it's that undeniably intelligent musical backdrop--the brooding guitar sound that gave the Mission Impossible 2 theme haunting new life and menace, and that defines "Hot Dog," "Full Nelson," "My Way," "Rollin'," "Boiler," and "It'll Be Okay"--that makes this a seething work of genius. The fact is, with rap and rock saying pretty much the same thing, Limp Bizkit have plenty of competition. They just do what they do better than everyone else. --Dan Gennoe
The buzz on the Mathews Bridge
- Mathews Bridge Eastbound Lanes Closed
- JACKSONVILLE, FL -- The Mathews Bridge eastbound lanes are closed due to an accident.
- Headstone: Dr. Francis Gould
- Buried in the Old City Cemetery located near the bottom of West side of the Mathews Bridge is the to...
- Mathews Bridge Reopened After Fiery Crash
- The Mathews Bridge has been reopened after a bad crash.
- Mathews Bridge Blocked by Car Fire
- JACKSONVILLE, FL -- A car fire has forced emergency crews to close down the Mathews Bridge.
Some cool books on Jacksonville you might like
Historic Photos of Jacksonville
Amazon Price: $32.54 (as of 07/11/2009)
Jacksonville's Architectural Heritage (Jacksonville Historic Landmarks Comm)
Amazon Price: $37.96 (as of 07/11/2009)
Jacksonville Revisited (FL) (Postcard History Series)
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Drop me a line ...
Did you ever drive over the Mathews Bridge before the steel grating was fixed? Rants, raves, boos, comments? How do you like it now?
JenniferAkers wrote...
What a thorough lens on Mathews Bridge! I've never crossed it myself, but I like hearing about structures, cities, etc. in Florida. Welcome to the group, Fun in Florida.
Posted June 19, 2009
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