CORAL GABLES AND THE COCOPLUM BRIDGE

In the early 1920s, George Merrick’s Coral Gables Corporation envisioned the Cocoplum bridge as a grand entrance to the Coral Gables Riviera Subdivision. The initial plans for the bridge crossing the Coral Gables Canal, a drainage canal and transportation corridor in the heart of the city, were never realized. Due to the bust of the Florida Land Boom, the bridge design changed, and in 1927, a simple, wood structure was built. It was deemed unsafe little more than a decade later. In 1943, the bridge was replaced with a concrete design approved by the War Production Board. However, because of material shortages and limits on non-military production during World War II, its construction methods and materials changed. Local rock was used for the concrete mixture instead of imported rock, and cast-iron pipe drains were installed instead of malleable iron, giving the bridge a unique design. In 2018, the bridge was recognized as historically significant by the City of Coral Gables. Replaced in 2025, the new bridge continues to be a reminder of both the grand original city plan and the ingenuity of the people who designed and built it, despite their limitations.