Bridge of Lions rehabilitation starts wrap up

January 31, 2010

As Historic City News starts the countdown for the long awaited re-opening of the Bridge of Lions, the St. Augustine local news desk will publish a look back on the work that has been accomplished and a peek ahead to the completion of the Bridge of Lions rehabilitation project.

The most visible part of the project during the past several months has been the extensive work on the foundations for the piers.

Behind the scenes, however, project team members have been cautiously studying each layer covering pieces of railings and steel girders to find the original color of the Bridge of Lions.

Welsh Color & Conservation, Inc., a company specializing in analysis of historic paints and wallpapers, used their meticulous sleuthing skills to uncover the 1927 paint color.

After laboratory analysis of collected samples from the Bridge’s girders and railings, The Welsh Color team preservationists discovered a subdued shade of spring green as the first layer of finish paint over the initial layers of primer coating on the original bridge.

Much of the railing is up, the light poles are up with many of the light fixtures now attached. There's still no railings around the towers, but the towers themselves are looking very nice. The only obvious difference is a concrete barrier between the driving lanes and the sidewalks and it's been done very tastefully.