The Sunset Beach bridge was more controversial than the Wall Street bailout (occurring at the time) on local terms. There were those who felt a new bridge was a must for safety and security reasons and those who wanted to keep the old swing bridge in place at any cost. A local preservation group battled for years to keep the old bridge.
After years of court battles progress won out and a new span bridge was built at Sunset Beach.
The old bridge was a wooden, one lane, pontoon bridge. Built in 1961, it is part of Sunset Beach’s history and is said to be the last of its kind on the East Coast. Manon Gore, the developer of Sunset Beach, built the bridge and in the old days you had to honk your horn twice outside of his nearby house for him to come open the bridge.
Construction on the new 65 foot high span bridge began in February of 2009 and it was completed sometime in 2010.
The arc bridge ensures that visitors and residents are safe.
The bridge has two 12 foot travel lanes, is a half mile long and also has a pedestrian lane for bikes and foot travel.
Buy museum quality Giclee prints of the historic Sunset Beach Bridge by local artist Miller Pope at Islands Art & Books Store or online here!
Buy museum quality Giclee prints of the historic Sunset Beach Bridge by local artist Miller Pope at Islands Art & Books Store or online here!
