- Address: Swing Bridge, Belize City, Belize
During your stay in Belize, you should definitely look at Swing (the second name is Old Bridge) - the oldest drawbridge of similar design in Central America. It is located in the old historical center of Belize , next to the Maritime Museum. Thrown across one of the sleeves of the Belize River mouth is Oulover, the Swing Bridge connects the northern and southern parts of the city. This is one of the few bridges still remaining in the world, the management of which is still carried out manually, so it's worth to look at it!
History of the drawbridge
Design and construction of the bridge were conducted in 1922-1923. in Liverpool. Ready-made drawbridges Belize received as a gift from the British authorities. After some time, the bridge was transported through New Orleans by an American transportation company and was inaugurated. He in time replaced the worn-out old wooden structures of the mid-19th century, made by townspeople to move across the river. In 1931, the strongest hurricane hit the Belize, damaging the bridge. Such natural disasters repeated in 1961 and 1998, causing the bridge tangible, but not critical damage. In the first decade of the 21st century, the city authorities carried out a major reconstruction, during which the idea arose to abandon the manual control of the bridge and switch to automatic regulation. The population opposed the mechanization of the process, arguing that this would deprive the city of one of the most outstanding sights, a unique monument of engineering thought of the early 20th century.
A plumb bridge in our days
Previously, the drawbridge served as the main transport artery of the city - it moved from one part of the city to another, and fishing vessels waited at this time, when the breeding begins, to go from the Caribbean Sea to the port. Now the main car traffic goes through other bridges, and the drawbridge is pedestrian. It is opened manually by four workers, which pull the winch, thus leading the parts of the bridge into motion. The breeding of the bridge is carried out twice a day - in the morning and in the evening, in order to skip the boats. The area of the drawbridge is considered to be one of the best places for walking in the summer heat - a nice river with overgrown with greenery gives you a cool welcome.
How to get there?
The bridge is located on Queen Street, in the center of Belize , a few hundred meters from the confluence of Oulovera into the Caribbean Sea.