The Port Orange Causeway, commonly called the ''Port Orange Bridge'' or the ''Dunlawton Bridge'', spans the

Halifax River The Halifax River is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway, located in northeast Volusia County, Florida. The waterway was originally known as the North Mosquito River, but was renamed after George Montagu-Dunk, 2nd Earl of Halifax (for ...

and

Intracoastal Waterway The Intracoastal Waterway (ICW) is a Navigability, inland waterway along the Atlantic and Gulf of Mexico coasts of the United States, running from Massachusetts southward along the Atlantic Seaboard and around the southern tip of Florida, the ...

in Port Orange,

Volusia County Volusia County (, ) is a county located in the east-central part of the U.S. state of Florida between the St. Johns River and the Atlantic Ocean. As of the 2020 census, the county was home to 553,543 people, an increase of 11.9% from the 2 ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. The bridge carries approximately 29,000 vehicles per day across four lanes of

State Road A1A State Road A1A (SR A1A) is a major north–south Florida State Road consisting of seven separate sections running a total of along the Atlantic Ocean, from Key West at the southern tip of Florida, to Fernandina Beach, just south of Geor ...

and Dunlawton Avenue.

History

First bridge

The first bridge at this location was built by the ''Port Orange Bridge Company'' (owned by S. H. Gove) in 1906, made of sable palm pilings and pine bridge timbers. In 1918, Gove offered to sell the bridge to Volusia County. The bridge was severely damaged by a hurricane in 1932, and was torn down. Port Orange was without a bridge for many years after the disaster.

Second bridge

A bascule bridge was finally built here as a replacement in 1951. The two-lane drawbridge was paid for with tolls. The bridge connected the two ends of Dunlawton Avenue, from the mainland to the beach peninsula.

Third bridge

In May 1987, the U.S. federal government agreed to provide $8.16 million of the estimated $12 million cost of building a

Port Orange, Florida Port Orange is a city in Volusia County, Florida, United States. The city is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach metropolitan area. Port Orange is a principal city in the Fun Coast region of the state of Florida. As of the 2020 c ...

bridge planned to be similar to the Granada Bridge. After the drawbridge had aged and was expensive to maintain, it was replaced in 1990 by a new four-lane high bridge, which carries

over the river. The Florida State Legislature designated the new bridge as the ''Congressman William V. Chappel Jr. Memorial Bridge''.

References

Gallery

Image:POCauseway_0913.JPG Image:POCauseway_0907.JPG Image:HR_PO_Birds0898.jpg Image:PO_Wildlife_Sanctuary0915.jpg

External links

History of Port Orange

{{Bridges of Florida Causeways in Florida Bridges in Volusia County, Florida Bridges over the Halifax River Road bridges in Florida Buildings and structures in Port Orange, Florida Bridges completed in 1990 Former toll bridges in Florida 1990 establishments in Florida Concrete bridges in the United States Girder bridges in the United States