The Florida Avenue bridge over the Industrial Canal, 1942. The bridge served two purposes at this time, to allow the Southern Railway tracks to cross the canal, and to link the neighborhoods of Gentilly (west of the canal) and Seabrook (east of the canal).
The construction of the high-rise Seabrook Bridge next to the Florida Avenue bridge in the 1950s made the latter a train-only bridge. Now, the train bridge stays up, allowing marine traffic to move unobstructed most of the day. The drawbridge lowers when a train approaches.
