<P> After the railroad was damaged by the Labor Day Hurricane of 1935, the line was sold to the United States government, which refurbished Seven Mile Bridge for automobile use . Unsupported sections were added in 1935 to widen it for vehicular traffic . Dismantled trackage was recycled, painted white, and used as guardrails . It had a swing span to allow passage of boats in the Moser Channel of the Intracoastal Waterway, near where the bridge crosses Pigeon Key, a small island that held a work camp for Flagler's railroad . Hurricane Donna in 1960 caused further damage . </P> <P> The current road bridge was constructed from 1978 to 1982 . </P> <P> The vast majority of the original bridge still exists, although the swing span has been removed . The 2.2 - mile section to Pigeon Key, used as a fishing pier and long open to motorized vehicles to give access to the key, was closed to motorized traffic in 2008 after the unsupported sections began to sag . As of 2015, the section remains open to pedestrians and bicyclists . In 2014, Florida Department of Transportation approved a $77 million plan to restore the old bridge . </P> <P> The new bridge is a box - girder structure built from precast, prestressed concrete sections, comprising 440 spans . Near the center, the bridge rises in an arc to provide 65 - foot (20 m) - high clearance for boat passage . The remainder of the bridge is considerably closer to the water surface . The new bridge does not cross Pigeon Key . </P>

When did the old 7 mile bridge close