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Melbourne Causeway | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 28°05′02″N80°35′29″W / 28.0840°N 80.5915°W |
Carries | 2 general purpose lanes of US 192 (each bridge) |
Crosses | Indian River Lagoon |
Locale | between Melbourne, Florida and Indialantic, Florida |
Official name | Ernest Kouwen-Hoven Bridge |
Maintained by | Florida Department of Transportation |
ID number | 700174 - Westbound 700181 - Eastbound |
Characteristics | |
Design | reinforced concrete |
Total length | 2.0 km (1.2 mi) (bridge lengths combined) |
Width | unknown |
Longest span | 790.0 meters (2,590 feet; 0.491 miles) |
Clearance above | 16.76 meters (55.0 feet) |
Clearance below | 15.25 meters (50.0 feet) |
History | |
Opened | 1979 - Westbound, 1984 - Eastbound |
Location | |
Melbourne Causeway | |
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Coordinates | 28°05′14″N80°34′57″W / 28.0872°N 80.5825°W |
Carries | 2 general purpose lanes (each bridge) |
Crosses | Indian River Lagoon |
Locale | between Melbourne, Florida and Indialantic, Florida |
Official name | Central Relief |
Maintained by | Florida Department of Transportation |
ID number | 700173 - Westbound 700175 - Eastbound |
Characteristics | |
Design | reinforced concrete |
Total length | 62.8 meters (206 feet) |
Width | unknown |
Longest span | 62.8 meters (206 feet) |
Clearance above | 6.1 meters (20 feet) |
Clearance below | 4.6 meters (15 feet) |
History | |
Opened | 1979 |
Location | |
Melbourne Causeway | |
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Coordinates | 28°05′19″N80°34′37″W / 28.0887°N 80.5770°W |
Carries | 4 general purpose lanes |
Crosses | Indian River Lagoon |
Locale | between Melbourne, Florida and Indialantic, Florida |
Official name | Eastern Relief |
Maintained by | Florida Department of Transportation |
ID number | 700037 |
Characteristics | |
Design | reinforced concrete |
Total length | 66 meters (217 feet) |
Width | unknown |
Longest span | 66 meters (217 feet) |
Clearance above | 6.1 meters (20 feet) |
Clearance below | 4.6 meters (15 feet) |
History | |
Opened | 1947 |
Location | |
The Melbourne Causeway is located entirely within Brevard County, Florida in the United States. It is composed of three bridges and connects the municipalities of Melbourne and Indialantic across the Indian River Lagoon in Brevard County. The causeway is part of U.S. 192 (also known as SR 500), whose eastern terminus is located approximately 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the bridge, at SR A1A. East of the bridge, the road is known locally as Fifth Avenue. On the western side, the road continues through downtown Melbourne as Strawbridge Avenue. Each July 4 the bridge is closed for a fireworks show.
There are two bridges in Melbourne, the Melbourne Causeway and the Eau Gallie Causeway (SR 518) With the latter being named for the old city of Eau Gallie, which merged with Melbourne in 1969.
Ernest Kouwen-Hoven began construction of the second bridge across the Indian River in 1919. The first bridge was completed 2 years earlier near Cocoa, Florida. By May 1921 the bridge was complete and unofficially opened as a toll bridge. It was 9,706 feet (2,958 meters) or nearly 2 miles (3.2 km) long (3 kilometers). Approximately 1/3 of the way from Melbourne there was a 134-foot-long (41 m) hand-operated draw. On September 18, 1921, the bridge officially opened. A Mr. J. E. Campbell was the first to drive across the bridge. During construction three sawmills were built by Ernest Kouwen-Hoven. They did not all exist at the same time. The first one was in Melbourne Village, the second was on the Nevin Property on Merritt Island, and the third was 5 miles (8.0 km) west of Grant.
The causeway between Indialantic and Melbourne was opened to traffic on August 1, 1939. The causeway consisted of fill material dredged from the bottom of the Indian River south of the causeway's location. The road surface was asphalt laid down and pressed by road rolling machines. The wooden bridge was largely replaced by the new causeway. The original bridge had a rotating span near the western end of the causeway to permit boat traffic to pass through and was operated by a person in a small shelter directly on the rotating section. In the following paragraph it appears that the author is referring to the replacement of the rotating draw span.
In 1941, construction began on the second bridge between Melbourne and Indialantic. This bridge was a low-rise swing draw bridge. On August 1, 1947, Mrs. Ernest Kouwen-Hoven cut the ribbon and the same J. E. Campbell that crossed the first bridge, was the first to cross this bridge.
The third bridge contains two twin spans that are 2,592.5 feet (790.2 m) long. According to the Melbourne Centennial Book the official start of construction was February 2, 1976, and the bridge was expected to be complete by fall of 1977. It appears to have been delayed with the westbound span being constructed in 1977 and ending 2 years later. From bridge id numbers, it appears that the western relief bridges were also constructed during this time. Construction of the eastbound span did not begin until 1981 and finished in 1984.
The Ernest Kouwen-Hoven Memorial Bridge is the official name of the high-rise span, officially dedicated by the State of Florida Legislature on 28 May 1978. This name is not used locally, and only appears in official government documents.
These bridges are unremarkable, and have no appreciable change in grade. The easternmost relief bridge is commonly used by local fishermen.
At the base of the causeway on the western side is the Kiwanis Park at Geiger Point, a 7-acre community park managed by the Brevard County Parks & Recreation.
Indialantic is a town in Brevard County, Florida. The town's population was 2,720 at the 2010 United States Census. It is part of the Palm Bay–Melbourne–Titusville Metropolitan Statistical Area.
Melbourne is a city in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is located 72 mi (116 km) southeast of Orlando. As of the 2020 Decennial Census, there was a population of 84,678. The municipality is the second-largest in the county by both size and population. Melbourne is a principal city of the Palm Bay – Melbourne – Titusville, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area. In 1969, the city was expanded by merging with nearby Eau Gallie.
Eau Gallie is a section of the city of Melbourne, Florida, located on the city's northern side. It was an independent city in Brevard County from 1860 until 1969.
State Road 3, known locally as North Courtenay Parkway, is a north–south road located entirely on Merritt Island, serving as the southern access for the Kennedy Space Center near Cape Canaveral, Florida. The shortest of the one-digit Florida State Roads, its southern terminus is an intersection with SR 520 on Merritt Island, east of Cocoa.
State Road 513, also known as South Patrick Drive, is a short north–south road located along the western side of the barrier island towns of Indian Harbour Beach, Satellite Beach and South Patrick Shores in Brevard County. The southern terminus is at an intersection with SR 518 near the eastern end of the Eau Gallie Causeway in Indian Harbour Beach. The northern terminus is at a partial interchange with the Pineda Causeway, just south of the southern entrance of Patrick Space Force Base.
State Road 518, also called Eau Gallie Boulevard, is a short but major east–west highway with a western terminus at Interstate 95 on the Florida mainland, crossing the Indian River via the Eau Gallie Causeway, and having its eastern terminus at SR A1A. Most of SR 518 is located within the city of Melbourne.
State Road 404 (SR 404), the Pineda Causeway, is an east–west divided highway currently running from Interstate 95 (I-95) to SR A1A at Patrick Space Force Base, Florida, US. It was opened as a toll road in 1971 and classified as a state road two years later. The tolls were removed in 1990. It was named after Pineda, a former village east of Suntree on U.S. Route 1 (US 1). With interchanges at US 1 (SR 5), South Tropical Trail, and South Patrick Drive (SR 513), the Pineda Causeway is the primary access for Patrick Space Force Base and the southern end of Merritt Island. From US 1 to the eastern terminus, it is part of the Indian River Lagoon Scenic Highway system.
The Merritt Island Causeway, mostly in Merritt Island, connects Cocoa, Merritt Island, Florida, and Cocoa Beach, Florida. The causeway transits the Willard Peebles bridge over the Banana River Lagoon. In the 1960s, SR A1A was routed over the eastern causeway from present day SR 520 and SR A1A, to the present day intersection of SR 520 and SR 3 on Merritt Island. The eastern section is known as the Cocoa Beach Causeway.
William Jackson Creel was a three-term Democratic mayor of Eau Gallie, Florida from 1913 to 1915 and from May 1950 to December 1950. He was a member of the Florida House of Representatives in 1927.
The Eau Gallie Causeway connects Eau Gallie, Florida, with SR A1A near Indian Harbour Beach, across the Indian River Lagoon. Located entirely within the Melbourne city limits, the causeway consists of a main bridge crossing over the Intracoastal Waterway and a relief bridge. The bridge is a key link in SR 518, Eau Gallie Boulevard, of which the causeway is a part.
Ernest Kouwen-Hoven (1875–1940) came to the U.S at the age of 20 from the Netherlands. In 1908, his son, Jack, was born. His daughter, Phylis, followed in 1910. In 1915, the family arrived in Melbourne, Florida from California. He purchased land and platted it in 1916, thus founding Indialantic, Florida. The plat was later revised in 1919. In the same year, he began construction of his toll bridge across the Indian River. His original "Indialantic, Florida Land Sales" office, which was destroyed by fire in 1919, was built on Front Street in Melbourne.
Eau Gallie High School is located at 1400 Commodore Blvd in the Eau Gallie area of Melbourne, Florida. It is one of four public high schools in Melbourne, along with Melbourne High School, Palm Bay High School, and West Shore Junior/Senior High School.
The Indian River Lagoon Scenic Highway is a 130-mile-long (210 km) scenic byway located in Florida. The highway is a collection of several roads, running north and south along either side of the Indian River Lagoon, connected by other roads running over the Lagoon.
Brevard County, Florida has transportation available in the usual modes for a coastal county - highways, shipping, and airlines.
Crane Creek is a 3.3-mile-long (5.3 km) stream in Melbourne, Florida, United States. It is a tributary of the Indian River, with its mouth in the vicinity of Front Street.
Eau Gallie River is a 3.9-mile-long (6.3 km) river in Eau Gallie, Florida, United States. It is a tributary of the Indian River, with its mouth near Hawthorne Point.
The History of Brevard County can be traced to the prehistory of native cultures living in the area from pre-Columbian times to the present age. Brevard County is a county in the U.S. state of Florida, along the coast of the Atlantic Ocean. The geographic boundaries of the county have changed significantly since its founding. The county is named for Judge Theodore W. Brevard, an early settler, and state comptroller, and was originally named St. Lucie County until 1855. The official county seat has been located in Titusville since 1894, although most of the county's administration is performed from Viera.
Florida State Road 5054, known locally as Sarno Road, is an east–west highway in central Melbourne, Florida. Its western terminus is at Florida State Road 518, a half mile east of I-95; its eastern terminus is an intersection with Wickham Road and Sarno Road. The road is completely unsigned.