Biscayne Bay

The Biscayne National Park in the south of the bay

The Biscayne Bay is a bay of the Atlantic Ocean in the southeast of the U.S. state of Florida. The bay has a total area of ​​approximately 1110 km ².

Geography

The Biscayne Bay is part of the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway and extends to about 80 km long and 15 km wide along the coast in southeastern Florida. In the north of the bay starts at North Miami. In the south of the bay extends to the end of North Key Largo, to the point where the Overseas Highway leads coming from the mainland via the Jewfish Creek Bridge in the southwest of the Florida Keys. The highway marks the boundary to be in the southwest subsequent Florida Bay, which is connected by small channels with the Biscayne Bay. The South Bay is composed of the bays Card Sound, Barnes Sound and Manatee Bay. The Card Sound Bridge in turn represents the boundary between the Card Sound and Barnes Sound dar. The largest (mainly southern ) part of the bay is occupied by the Biscayne National Park since 1980 and is therefore under protection.

In the east, from north to south represent essentially the barrier islands of Miami Beach, Key Biscayne, Islandia and North Key Largo the border to the Atlantic dar. between Key Biscayne and Islandia is a Safety Valve called shoal that separates the bay from the currents of the open sea.

History

The Spanish navigator Juan Ponce de León contributed to the discovery of Florida in 1513 at the Biscayne Bay and named it Chequescha. In 1565, Pedro Menéndez de Bay Tequesta Aviles was called. The British gave the bay during their occupation of Florida the name Cape River, Dartmouth sound and Sandwich gulph. On a map of the 17th century the bay was listed as Cayo de Biscainhos, what is the probable origin of the present name. In the 19th century the bay first Key Biscayne Bay and finally just Biscayne Bay was named.

Through the Florida land boom in the 1920s, it came into the region into an economic recovery, which had rapidly increased the population. In 1947 was founded on Virginia Key, the Rosenstiel School of Marine and Atmospheric Science at the University of Miami. In North Miami Biscayne Bay Campus of Florida International University in 1977 erected.

Infrastructure

The settlement on the banks focused on the north of the bay, which is part of the Miami metropolitan area around the city of Miami. The port of Miami, one of the largest seaports in the world, is located in the Biscayne Bay. In the area of the bay is crossed by several structures:

  • Broad Causeway ( bridge from North Miami to Bay Harbor Islands, State Road 922 )
  • John F. Kennedy Causeway ( bridge over North Bay Village Miami to Miami Beach, State Road 934)
  • Julia Tuttle Causeway ( dam / bridge from Miami to Miami Beach, Interstate 195/State Road 112)
  • Venetian Causeway ( Bridge of Miami on the Venetian Islands in Miami Beach, toll)
  • MacArthur Causeway ( dam / bridge from Miami to Miami Beach, State Road A1A)
  • Dodge Iceland Bridge ( bridge from Miami to Dodge Iceland (Port Miami), State Road 886 )
  • Port of Miami tunnel (tunnel from Watson to Dodge Iceland Iceland, opening 2014)
  • Rickenbacker Causeway ( dam / bridge from Miami to Key Biscayne, State Road 913)
North Miami, Florida North Key Largo, Florida Biscayne-Nationalpark Miami Beach, Florida Islandia (Florida) Florida land boom of the 1920s Bay Harbor Islands, Florida North Bay Village, Florida Venetian Islands, Florida Florida State Road A1A
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