Sidney Lanier Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The bridge in 2020 | |
| Coordinates | 31°06′59″N 81°29′05″W / 31.11641°N 81.48484°W |
| Carries |  US 17 |
| Crosses | Brunswick River |
| Locale | Brunswick, Georgia, United States |
| Named for | Sidney Lanier |
| Owner | Georgia Department of Transportation |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Cable-stayed bridge |
| Material | Concrete |
| No. of spans | 3 |
| History | |
| Designer | Sverdrup & Parcel and J. E. Greiner Associates (first bridge) DRC Consultants (second bridge) |
| Constructed by | Finley McNary, Recchi America, and GLF Construction Corporation (second bridge) |
| Construction cost | $8 million (first bridge) |
| Opened | 1956 (first bridge) 2003 (second bridge) |
| Dedicated | July 18, 1956 (first bridge) |
| Location | |
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The Sidney Lanier Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge that spans the Brunswick River in Brunswick, Georgia. The bridge is named after Georgia-born poet Sidney Lanier and carries part of U.S. Route 17 in Georgia.
The initial plans for a bridge at the location came from Georgia Governor Melvin E. Thompson, who thought it would help the tourism industry on nearby Jekyll Island. Construction commenced under his administration and continued under the next two governors, overseen by the State Toll Bridge Authority. The original bridge was a vertical-lift bridge that opened to traffic as a toll bridge in 1956. However, due to poor navigational clearance, the bridge suffered two ship collisions, with one in 1972 resulting in the deaths of ten individuals. Additionally, by the late 1990s, the low vertical clearance prevented larger cargo ships from accessing the Port of Brunswick, located upriver from the bridge. As a result, by 1998, work had commenced on a replacement bridge, which was completed in 2003. This new bridge, the third-longest cable-stayed bridge in the United States and Canada at the time of its opening, allowed for better access to the port and was designed with additional bridge safety features, such as artificial islands.