Lake Monroe Wayside Park — Attraction in Florida

The Lake Monroe Bridge was the first electrically operated swing bridge in Florida. In 1932-33 the State used federal assistance to build this bridge, which replaced a wooden toll bridge that was manually operated. The construction of the bridge provided economic relief for an area hurt by the economic collapse of the Depression era. The bridge was fabricated by Ingall's Iron Works of Birmingham, Alabama; the swing machinery manufactured by Earle Gear and Machine Co., Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; and it was erected by W. W. White Steel Construction of St. Petersburg, Florida. Kreis Contracting Company of Knoxville, Tennessee was the general contractor for the Florida Department of Transportation. The Florida Department of Transportation and Seminole County cooperated in preserving the swing span as a fishing pier when the new Benedict Bridge was completed in 1994. The Lake Monroe Bridge had historic impact on the communities of the area, but also is of historical value as an example of a branch of bridge engineering.

The Lake Monroe Bridge was 627 feet, and included a 235 foot swing span. It carried the main route linking Daytona Beach and Tampa, via Deland, Sanford, Orlando, and Lakeland. It could pivot 360 degrees on its curved rack and two spur pinions.

The Warren-type through truss construction had a central panel section peaked to accommodate the drive machinery. The Warren-type truss is considered the most economical construction for continuous spans. It is characterized by diagonals that alternate in direction. The first diagonal beam starts at the base level and goes up to the top. The next diagonal starts at the top and goes down to the base level. The diagonals are in tension and compression in alternate panels. To meet the heavy stresses of the swing span operation, the bridge arms were heavily reinforced and had rivited connections at all stress points. The harbor for Lake Monroe Park in Volusia County was created by fill taken for the approaches to the Lake...

Great place to take a little stroll and do a little fishing. The boat launch area is open but the piers or should I say floating docks are out of order still. There aren't any bathrooms power or water at the site However there are trash cans and covered picnic areas right on the water. There is also an old Trestle that goes part way Overlake Monroe that you can Walk up on 2 and check out.. If you bring your dogs or children make sure to watch for the normal Florida wildlife that we have here. I.e. Alligators and snakes. There is definitely lots of parking And it is very easy to back your boat Into...

It was a nice bike ride they have a way to get to Deltona pretty fast I was going to try to go to the jetty's but it got to late and I would up going to a church so I didn't get to try to make it all the way there that's something I would have to do in the day time and I need to get a little trailer on the back of my bike so when it dies I can pull over and charge it I think it would take about two days to get there or a little less than that but 1 day I will have something that's going to get me there on my days off...