the original seven mile bridge was built from 1909 to 1912.
the original seven mile bridge was built from 1909 to 1912.
when was the original seven mile bridge built?
from 1909 to 1912
there are two bridges in this location. the modern bridge is open to vehicular traffic; the older one only to pedestrians and cyclists. the older bridge, originally known as the knights key-pigeon key-moser channel-pacet channel bridge, was constructed from 1909 to 1912 under the direction of henry flagler and clarence s. coe as part of the florida east coast railway's key west extension, also known as the overseas railroad.









































section::::history.
seven mile bridge
the original highway through key largo and tavernier would once again become part of the overseas highway in the early 1970s when it was expanded to a four-lane divided highway. here, the northbound lanes run along the route of the original highway and the southbound lanes along the route of the railroad, which is especially evident in area where the route splits into two one-way streets. the widening was the beginning of a much larger project to rebuild much of the overseas highway, which included replacing the aging repurposed railroad bridges with more modern bridges; some of which are able to accommodate more than two lanes of traffic. this included the seven mile bridge, the bahia honda bridge and the long key bridge (although these three original bridges are no longer open to vehicular traffic, except for part of seven mile bridge, they became listed on the national register of historic places in 1979 and are currently used as fishing piers). the more modern bridges were completed in the early 1980s. in recent years, pigeon key was used by the university of miami as an oceanography laboratory, but current efforts to restore the buildings on the island have resulted in the establishment of a railroad museum there. the newer seven mile bridge does not have direct access to pigeon key; people going there must walk on of the original seven mile bridge from its northern end on knight's key, take a shuttle bus, or take a boat ride to reach the island.
overseas highway