| Seven Mile Bridge tips and photos posted by real travelers and Marathon locals. • 27 Photos
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You can't avoid seeing this if you go to the Key West end of Marathon. And it is something that should be seen.
When Flagler decided to extend his railroad down to Key West (which was at the time one of the major cities in Florida), he was originally going to built the railroad on fill, because that was cheaper than building bridges. But the locals needed the channel south of Vaca Key to get their produce from the bay side to Key West. Moser Channel is the only deep water route from one side to the other.
So old Henry decided to build a bridge. Everyone said it could not be done. But he ordered special salt water cement from Germany, and his people built the bridge.
After his death, the railroad was losing money, and the 1935 hurricane decimated the Islamorada area. His widow sold the railroad to the government, and they put a road on top of the rail bed. They used the old tracks to make a railing along the sides of the bridge. The third picture shows the underneath of the old bridge and how much narrower the track portion was.
That was the road we used when we were living in Key West. The road was very narrow - so narrow that you had to fold in your left side mirrors, or you risked breaking them when you would hit the mirror of a vehicle coming the other direction.
Now there is a new fixed bridge (the old bridge was a draw bridge) with a high span. Sailors with 65 foot masts have to wait until low tide to get under this bridge. In addition to this picture of the old bridge in 2004 (with the high level fixed bridge on the left side), the 2nd picture was taken in the same spot in 1966 and shows the drawbridge. The fourth picture shows the two bridges side by side. Leave a Comment
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Watching the sunset from the Seven Mile Bridge is spectacular. There are also good vantage points from the banks on either side of the bridge. The mood is festive because a lot of people come to the bridge each night for the show. I loved the flocks of pelicans flying overhead. Come early to ensure a parking space. Leave a Comment
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Looking up at the stars from the 7mile bridge on a clear night is amazing. Should take the old, pedestrian portion of the bridge as far out as you can to get away from the lights. A bike would be helpful, it's a long walk and very, very windy. Address: 7 mile bridge
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A 4 hours jouney from Miami to Key West will be an ideal place to stop over, the fresh air and the sun... what else? A short nap could be fun. Leave a Comment
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For those without boats, just on the north side of 7 mile bridge are some good places to catch lobster. Have snagged many bugs there Leave a Comment Address: seven mile bridgeDirections: There is a park to the side.
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Before we ever went to the Keys we had seen pictures of this bridge. I even thought that a big part of the trip might be on these kind of bridges...
But in that's not the case, this bridge is one of 42 on the Keys but also by far the longest one.
It connects Marathon (Knight Key) with the lower keys, building started in 1979 and it was completed may 1982. The pieces where made elsewhere and assembled on location. The bridge was the replacement for the first seven mile bridge that originally served as a railroad bridge.
Because of the spectacular sight it has been used in the movies "True Lies" , "License to Kill" and "Up close and personal".
The total length of the bridge is 10.931 m and the bridge surface area us 205000m2.
Picture taken december 7, 2004
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Marathon, the gate way to the heaven (Key West), before hiding yourself from the earth, get some news-paper to keep in touch with the cruel-cool-world. Leave a Comment
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on October 14, 2005
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