Escambia Bay Bridge

Escambia Bay Bridge
On bridge heading east
Coordinates	30.518947°N 87.144069°W/30.518947; -87.144069
Carries	6 lanes ofI-10
Crosses	Escambia Bay
Locale	Escambia County/Santa Rosa County,nearPensacola,Florida,USA
Maintained by	Florida Department of Transportation(FDOT)
ID number	480213 (eastbound) 480214 (westbound)
Characteristics
Design	Reinforced concretegirder bridge
Total length	13,820 feet (4,210 m) (eastbound) 13,736 feet (4,187 m) (westbound)
Clearance below	65 feet (20 m)
History
Opened	1968 (original bridge) 2007 (current bridge)
Statistics
Daily traffic	50,000
Location

TheEscambia Bay Bridgeis a six-lane freewaybridgethat carriesInterstate 10(I-10) acrossEscambia BaynearPensacola, Florida.

History

Replacement of I-10 bridges over Escambia Bay

The original four-lane bridge opened in 1968. It consisted of twin spans of two lanes each with no shoulders and was heavily damaged duringHurricane Ivanin 2004. The storm surge knocked a total of 58 spans off the eastbound and westbound bridges and misaligned another 66 spans, causing the bridge to close to traffic in both directions.A $26.5 million dollar project was awarded to Gilbert Southern/Massman and theParsons Corporationto make emergency repairs to the bridge. Traffic normally destined for the bridge was rerouted alongU.S. Route 90(US 90, exit 17) for over two months while temporary spans were built along the bridge's existing substructure, resulting in severe traffic jams. The westbound spans were completed and opened to traffic on October 4, 7 days ahead of schedule, while the eastbound spans were completed and opened to traffic on November 20, 66 days after Ivan made landfall and 27 days ahead of schedule. Both contractors received $1.5 million in bonuses for the early completion.

Construction on a new bridge to replace the one damaged by the hurricane began in early 2006. As the original bridge was left in place during construction, the new bridge was routed to the south and has a curved alignment near the beginning and end of each approach. Unlike the previous bridge, the new bridge features a total of six lanes (three eastbound and three westbound) as well as shoulders, modernbarrier wallsand lighting. The westbound portion of the bridge opened on December 12, 2007.

The bridge connects the northern part of Florida with theGulf Coastand was estimated to be used by 50,000 vehicles per day in 2011.

The Scenic Highway overpass that runs over and perpendicular to the I-10 bridge (seen running left to right at the very bottom of the above picture) was also replaced by a new bridge in 2015. New acceleration and deceleration lanes were also added due to the addition of a third lane each way on the section to the west of the interchange.

See also

• Transport portal
• Engineering portal
• Florida portal

External links

Media related toEscambia Bay Bridgeat Wikimedia Commons

• Escambia Bay Bridge Reopens to TrafficArchivedFebruary 13, 2007, at theWayback Machine
• Florida Army National Guard Secures Escambia Bay Bridge
• Bridge photos from Florida DOTArchivedMay 14, 2008, at theWayback Machine