page_title: Biscayne Bay
section_title: Safety Valve
hierarchical_section_title: Biscayne Bay / Safety Valve
caption_attribution_description: English: Aerial photograph of the Safety Valve between central Biscayne Bay and the Atlantic Ocean
context_page_description: Biscayne Bay is a lagoon that is approximately 35 miles long and up to 8 miles wide located on the Atlantic coast of South Florida, United States. It is usually divided for purposes of discussion and analysis into three parts: North Bay, Central Bay, and South Bay. Its area is 428 square miles. The drainage basin covers 938 square miles.
context_section_description: The Safety Valve is a series of shallow sand flats separated by tidal flow channels, stretching about 8 miles (13 km) from the south end of Key Biscayne to the Ragged Keys at the north end of the Florida Keys. The term "safety valve" was applied to the tidal flats by Ralph Munroe, who argued against building a causeway and bridges connecting Key Biscayne to the Ragged Keys and beyond on the grounds that such construction would block the free outflow of storm surges from the bay across the flats to the ocean. It is believed that it does moderate the effects of storm surges on the bay. The transportation of sand southward along the Atlantic Coast of Florida by longshore drift ends in the area of the Safety Valve. The structure of the Safety Valve has been stable for at least the last century. Stiltsville is a collection of buildings on pilings on several sand flats at the northern end of the Safety Valve.
caption: Aerial view of the Safety Valve from southern end of Key Biscayne (top) to Soldier Key
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