Case Study: Bridge of Lions achieves historic preservation and modern safety standards with Bentley

Bridge of Lions to meet current standards and maintain historical significance

The Bridge of Lions rehabilitation in St. Augustine, Fla., faced the challenge of bringing a 1927, National Register-listed movable bridge up to current safety and design standards while preserving its historic Mediterranean Revival character and keeping 21,500 daily travelers moving. The project team chose Bentley tools—MicroStation, GEOPAK, and LEAP CONSPAN—to support detailed preservation work, complex roadway and waterborne surveys, and temporary-bridge design during the rehabilitation.

Bentley’s software enabled a nearly 100-person team to share and revise drawings electronically, visualize and replicate historic lanterns, railings and gates with MicroStation, merge bathymetric and land data into a single DTM with GEOPAK, and perform prestressed-beam design and load ratings for the temporary span with LEAP CONSPAN. The result was efficient collaboration, significant time savings, maintenance of the project schedule, reuse of nearly 450 tons of steel where feasible, continued traffic flow for 21,500 daily users via a temporary bridge, and a restored structure meeting modern codes while retaining its historic character—achieved with Bentley’s solutions.