• Constructors: American Bridge Company, Byington & Sundstron, United Steel Products Co.
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• The Hercilio Luz Bridge is the first bridge constructed to link the Island of Santa Catarina to the mainland.
• It is the longest suspension bridge in Brazil. The central span was considered quite long, but not the longest, at 340 meters. At the time of its opening and is still one of the 100 largest suspension bridges. Initially seen to serve as train, pedestrian and water supply connection.
• It took ten times its original budget to build. It was named in honour of Hercilio Luz, a former governor of the state of Santa Catarina. Governor and civil Engineer Hercílio Pedro da Luz resolved to build the bridge to consolidate Florianópolis like capital of Santa Catarina. Other cities of the state were considering the very distant island to be the administrative and political center of the state and, in consequence, there was a movement preaching the change of the capital for Lages. The idealizador did not see his dream being ended, since it died in 20.10.1924, twelve days after a symbolic inauguration of a 50 times smaller 18m length suspension wood passage built in the Square and city harbour. The name of the work would be a Bridge of the Independence, what it was changed after the death of his idealizador, in posthumous tribute. Inaugurated in the following Governator Antônio Vicente Bulcão Vianna release 40000 people with boats to cross the water passage to the island. The structure from steel has the weight approached 5000 tons, and the foundations and pillars consumed 14.250m³ of concrete. The payment of the loans, done near North American banks, was ended only in 1978, more than 50 years after the inauguration of the bridge. To the end, the cost reached 14 millions 478 thousand 107 counts and 479 réis - practically the double of the budget of the State in that time.
• Since it was closed, in 22.01.1982, for security reasons by IPT Report in 03.12.1981, the Bridge served only of postcard, like point of reference and for embellishment of the city. Reopened on the 15th of March of 1988 only to the pedestrians' traffic, bicycles, motorcycles and vehicles of animal traction, it was closed again completely on the 4th of July of 1991, after a report of analysis of viability of the reopening of the traffic of the bridge was presented in February of 1990.The bridge has been closed since 1991 for mantainance and repairs. It is planned to be open again at 2010 after restauration started in 2006, which the wide of the suspension road would be wider for small automobile passage. The wood floor was removed in 1969. In ancient times it was totally black, but after restauration it would have a silver appearance.
• The nightmare of the collapse became constant in the life of the persons. This fear, meantime, was removed just on the day in which the bridge completed 71 years of age. The classic work of the international engineering was knocked down like historical and artistic inheritance. The Mirante situated to the insular head provides one of the most beautiful panoramic sights of the center of the city. In the area also there are situated the Museum of the Bridge and the Park of Luz (Florianópolis).
• It has the fairly unusual feature that the truss carrying the roadway (a continuous stiffening component) is above the roadway itself and meets up with the cables making it non uniform in height. A similar bridge, the Walter Taylor Bridge, was built over the Brisbane River in Brisbane, Australia in 1936.
• The bridge was built by American Bridge Company, with all steel imported, perhaps more than any other company in the world, was best qualified to work on a bridge with a continuous stiffening component. In the days of construction was the longest eyebar suspension span in existence at that time. The 11 13’-O”-long design features towers with rocker bearings. The company brought to that project its own experimental heat-treated eyebars, and as project contractor pioneered stiffening techniques that saved materials and money while providing greater rigidity.
• Another bridge of similar design, the Silver Bridge over the Ohio River at Point Pleasant in the USA, collapsed in 1967 due to a failure in one of the eyebars. Also Saint Mary Bridge is similar.
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