The porous oolitic ( pronounced oh-a-li-tic ) limestone bridge was laced with roots from the oak trees growing on both banks of the creek , and likely those roots were what was holding the rock together . A number of trees near both ends of the bridge were removed , thus killing the roots . Then in order to keep vehicular traffic from using the bridge it was blocked off by boring a row of large holes through the road at both ends of the bridge , and standing discarded wooden railroad ties in the holes . When the bridge collapsed it broke along the two rows of " perforations " drilled for the ties . In March 2018 , FIU Biscayne Bay Campus proposed to pave it as an additional road access to cars and allow another way to campus for first responders in case of an emergency , in light of the Parkland school shooting . However , despite the proposal passing in senate , it has faced strong protests from people who want to protect the reserve
Parkland school shooting
Stoneman Douglas High School shooting
Arch Creek, Florida