West end of the old bridge

Here you can see the remnants of what used to be the old Madeira Beach Causeway: The bridge pilings from the old low level drawbridge.

East end of the old bridge

Here's a view of the east end of the old Madeira Beach Causeway. As you can see this makes a great fishing spot.

Looking east

You can see the current Madeira Beach Causeway to the left and the red end of road signs that mark the alignment of the old Madeira Beach Causeway.

Inscription at the beginning of the bridge

The Madeira Beach Causeway is also known as the Welch Causeway (as pictured) and the Tom Stuart Causeway.

View of Boca Ciega Bay looking south

Looking southeastward from the Madeira Beach Causeway. You can see the Bay Pines VA Hospital to the left in the background.

Draw Bridge Traffic Signal

Here is the standard drawbridge traffic signal that turns red when traffic has to be stopped, mounted on a mast arm. Before the bridge was retrofitted there used to be a partial overhead sign that read "Draw Bridge, Stop When Flashing" and the two flashing red lights with the word "Stop" in between just before you entered the bridge.

Speaker and bridge gate

The black box mounted on the light pole is a speaker, installed when the Madeira Beach Causeway was retrofitted. A standard on all Florida drawbridges, the speakers enable the bridge tender to communicate important messages to pedestrians and motorists alike. In the background is the standard railroad crossing gate which is lowered when traffic must be stopped.

Gate mechanism

Here is a close up view of the gate mechanism which assists in raising or lowering the gate. The attached bell rings when the gate is being lowered or raised.

Eastbound at the center span

Looking east on the Madeira Beach Causeway as you cross the center steel grid deck span. Notice the addition of the concrete guardrail and the aluminum guardrail to the right providing protection for pedestrians. Also notice in the foreground on the roadway the part where the bridge goes into the pit below as the steel section rises.

Steel grid decking

This steel grid deck is four lanes and two pedestrian walkways wide. Also notice where pedestrian protection is provided by a steel Jersey Barrier guardrail as it crosses the movable section of the bridge.

Center of the bridge on the pedestrian walkway

We are at the center of the Madeira Beach Causeway's movable span. The access panel is to the span locking mechanism which is critical to the operation of the bridge. Notice that the pedestrian walkway is solid steel as we cross the center span rather than a steel grid deck.

Bridge tender's house

This is the elevated design seen at many other drawbridges in Pinellas County including Corey Causeway and Park Blvd. Shaped like an air traffic control tower, it provides an optimum view of boating traffic and vehicular/pedestrian traffic to the bridge tender.

Draw bridge signal closeup

Here is a closeup of the drawbridge traffic signal looking west.

Looking west on the Madeira Beach Causeway

Here you can see the drawbridge traffic signal and the bridge tender's house as you go west on the Madeira Beach Causeway towards the beaches.

Year of construction

The inscription on the east end of the bridge shows the year the Madeira Beach Causeway was built, 1962.

Underneath the Madeira Beach Causeway

Here's a view of the massive piling bents that support the Madeira Beach Causeway as you look west.

Another view looking west

Here's another view of the Madeira Beach Causeway on ground level as we are looking west towards Madeira Beach.