BRUNSWICK, Ga. (AP) It was a wedding with few frills — no flowers, no bridesmaids — just Georgia’s largest bridge beneath the bride’s and groom’s feet and a construction crane idling nearby.
Engineer David Bigelow and his bride, Janna Jo Stone, exchanged vows at sunrise Monday, April 7 standing on a structure that Bigelow spent seven years helping build. The only onlookers, besides wildlife, were a handful of friends and family members.
Later Monday morning, two years and three months late, the Sidney Lanier bridge opened to the public. Bigelow, who works for the state Department of Transportation, was the project’s assistant site engineer.
"If it was my decision, I probably wouldn’t have gotten married in the place I work 24 hours a day," said Bigelow, insisting the location was his bride’s idea.
Stone said she chose the bridge because "it was special and I knew that nobody else would do it."
The new 1.5-mi. (2.4 km) bridge, suspended by steel cables that fan out from 480-ft. (146 m) towers like a pair of giant sails, arcs 180 ft. (55 m) above the Brunswick River so ships can pass underneath.
Brunswick is 60 mi. (96.5 km) south of Savannah.
