By Bill Merz
Landings Association Bridge Committee

The Landings Journal will continue to provide information about the drawbridge replacement project, particularly with respect to construction progress and potential traffic disruptions.

Some facts about the new $22.5 million bridge: It will be constructed with 75 pre-stressed concrete beams covering 15 spans, for a total length of 2,160 feet. Most spans will be 130 feet long, but the center span over the Intracoastal Waterway will be 250 feet long, to provide a 180-foot wide boating channel. The minimum clearance for boating will be 65 feet above mean high water, as required by the Coast Guard. The roadway will be 38 feet from gutter to gutter, providing two 11-foot travel lanes and two eight-foot shoulders.

United Contractors, LLC, has elected to work 10-hour days from Monday through Thursday (for a 40-hour work week), but some work many continue on Fridays and Saturdays.

The new bridge is scheduled to be open to traffic by November 30, 2012, with the existing drawbridge removed and project completed by July 31, 2013.

The anticipated work for the coming months includes trucking in fill material from west of I-95 to build the roadway approaches to the bridge. Bearing piles for the central piers will be driven inside the cofferdams constructed in the waterway area.

Click on Bridge Update for the latest details.

Click on New Bridge Sketch for a depiction of what the replacement bridge will look like.