Sadly, my first choice is no longer accessible to the public by land. You can see the 130-year-old Suwannee and San Pedro Railroad bridge by boat if you are curious enough, but I believe these limited-release opportunities should be available to the enitre geocaching community, so I moved to my second choice. Thank goodness we drove over so I could show this to my wife, only to discover that the old boat ramp is now gated and private! The last time I was here, many years ago, this was easily viewed from the river bank. Oh, well.
However, this 80 year-old bridge is also historically significant. The Hal W. Adams (Hwy. 51) bridge was the first and ONLY vehicular suspension bridge ever built fully within Florida (one earlier suspension bridge, c. 1927, was built over the Chattahoochee River joining Georgia and Florida, but was demolished almost 70 years ago). Built in 1947, this bridge replaced an earlier wooden bridge, and a nearby private ferry, and has remained in use ever since.
Let's learn some things about the bridge and the Suwannee River over which it stretches. You WILL need a ruler (or tape measure), and might want to grab a pen and pad to keep track of your answers. As always, be safe in the area and considerate of others who may be using the park.
1. Near the parking coordinates is the boat ramp. At the ramp you should see a water-depth guage showing various historic flood levels. What year is listed on the yellow band?
2. Near you there is also a sign talking about wildlife in the river. What is the specific species pictured and described?
3. Next, walk over to the bridge. WITHOUT WALKING ON THE ROADWAY, approach the cable anchor point nearest you. a. How many cables do you see on just this side and this end? b. Measure the width of one cable. Be exact in your answer. c. Next measeure the width of one of the bolts on the tensioning rods (not the thickness). How far would the wrench need to be opened to turn this? You can almost hear those beefy workers tightening these down on a hot Florida day and complaining, the sweat pouring off their brows! The bridge opened on 4 July. What would have been the emotion of the first person to drive across this new bridge? It must have been quite exhilerating! (Not quite the Golden Gate, but then this isn't quite San Francisco Bay either!)
For those of you who might argue the "only" part, if considering bridges such as the Sunshine Skyway or Dames Point bridges, it is interesting to note that those are "cable stay" bridges, and NOT suspension bridges. You can find information at a popular online "encyclopedia" site that defines the difference.
Alright, off you go! Thanks for visiting. Be safe, have fun, and keep on exploring our amazing world!
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Virtual Rewards 4.0 - 2024-2025
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between January 17, 2024 and January 17, 2025. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards 4.0 on the Geocaching Blog.