Sanibel Causeway

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Sanibel Causeway
Bridge B as seen from the top of Bridge A.
Official name	Sanibel Causeway
Carries	Causeway Boulevard
Crosses	San Carlos Bay
Locale	Sanibel, Florida
Maintained by	Lee County Department of Transportation
ID number	124116 (Bridge A) 124115 (Bridge B) 124114 (Bridge C)
Design	Concrete Girder Bridge
Total length	3 Miles
Width	40 Feet
Vertical clearance	70 Feet (Bridge A) 26 Feet (Bridge C)
Opening date	May 26, 1963
Toll	$6 (Westbound traffic only)
Coordinates	26°28′35″N / 82°01′32″W

The Sanibel Causeway is a causeway in Southwest Florida that spans the San Carlos Bay, connecting Sanibel Island with the Florida mainland in South Fort Myers. The causeway consists of three separate two-lane bridge spans, and two man-made causeway islands, which are located between each of the three bridges. The entire causeway facility is owned and operated by the Lee County Department of Transportation.

There is a six dollar toll in effect for island-bound vehicles only, and there is no additional toll for vehicles exiting the island. The toll facility accepts Florida's statewide "SunPass" prepaid electronic toll collection system, along with Lee County's "Leeway" prepaid toll system, which is also used on the Cape Coral Bridge and the Midpoint Memorial Bridge.

As drivers heading towards the island pass through the Toll Plaza located on the mainland in Punta Rassa, they head west and cross Bridge A, and land on the first man-made causeway island. On this first island, the road turns south, and then crosses Bridge B, which lands on a second causeway island. After the second island, the road crosses Bridge C, which then lands on Sanibel Island. The distance from the Toll Plaza to touchdown on Sanibel is approximately 3 miles (5 kilometers).

Contents 1 History 2 The Bridges 2.1 Bridge A 2.2 Bridge B 2.3 Bridge C 3 Gallery 4 References 5 External links

[edit] History

The Sanibel Causeway originally opened for traffic on May 26, 1963, replacing a ferry boat that had run from Punta Rassa to Sanibel since 1912. Construction on the entire causeway, and the three original bridges lasted 15 months and cost $2.73 million. The causeway caused the island to experience major growth in the early 1970s, which led to Sanibel's incorporation into Lee County's third city on November 5, 1974. Former CIA director Porter Goss served as Sanibel's first mayor.

In 1990, Lee County proposed the idea of replacing the original three-bridge causeway with a single four-lane high span bridge. The residents of Sanibel opposed the idea in a referendum and it was later abandoned. In 1991, the original bridges began to show signs of deterioration, and Lee County made major repairs, and repairs were made again in 1997. The bridges continued to show signs of deterioration in the early 2000s, and in 2001, Lee County made plans to replace Bridges B and C, and refurbish Bridge A (the drawbridge). ^[1]

On January 6, 2003, during a routine inspection, severe cracks were discovered underneath a 48-foot deck section on Bridge B. After this discovery, all three of the bridges were very closely monitored, and the damaged section was braced with additional steel pilings. Bridge B's speed limit was temporarily lowered to 10 miles per hour, and the rest of the causeway's speed limit was lowered to 20 miles per hour. A temporary 10-ton weight limit was put in place. Lee County determined that the 48-foot deck section needed to be completely replaced as soon as possible. The county then made plans to close the causeway for an entire day in order to replace the section. This meant that Sanibel residents and business-owners would be completely cut off from the mainland for the day, and extensive preparations were made. The causeway was shut down all day on January 20, 2003, which was Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. The holiday was chosen since schools and government offices would be closed that day. The deck section was replaced with a steel grate section, since concrete would take a week to complete. The replacement was completed quickly, and the causeway re-opened ahead of schedule. After this turn of events, Lee County scrapped it original plan for rehabilitating Bridge A (the drawbridge), and concluded that all three of the bridges needed to be replaced. ^[2]

On August 13, 2004, the area was struck by Hurricane Charley, a Category 4 hurricane. The causeway received only minor damage and was very carefully inspected before Sanibel residents were permitted to return to the island.

Construction of the current bridges commenced in August of 2004. The three dollar toll was increased to six dollars in November of 2004 in order to finance construction. Construction on the current spans lasted three years, and cost $137 million. An official grand-opening ceremony for the current bridges was held on September 8, 2007, which was the day the current Bridge C opened (even though the current Bridges A and B opened prior to September 8).

The original bridges have been demolished, and their remains will be sunk into the water to create a number of artificial reefs in the San Carlos Bay and the Gulf of Mexico.

[edit] The Bridges

[edit] Bridge A

Bridge A is the bridge closest to the mainland in South Fort Myers. Bridge A is a 70-foot fixed span bridge, and stands as the tallest bridge in Lee County. The bridge previously holding this record was the nearby Matanzas Pass Bridge, which is 65 feet tall. The original Bridge A was a 26-foot high drawbridge. Plans for constructing a high-span bridge to replace the drawbridge had been talked about since 1985, but were not made official until 2003, when Lee County concluded that the drawbridge (as well as the other two bridges) needed to be replaced. Residents of the city of Sanibel (which does not own the Causeway) were opposed to the construction of the high-span, and pursued Lee County to either refurbish the drawbridge or replace it with another drawbridge. Shortly before construction was set to begin on the high-span bridge, the city filed a lawsuit against the Lee County in an attempt to stop construction. Sanibel claimed that Lee County did not maintain the bridges properly, and used the toll revenue for other road projects. Lee County then filed a counter lawsuit, claiming Sanibel was interfering with construction. A second lawsuit against Lee County was filed by a group of Sanibel residents who created a non-profit organization called "Save Our Bay, Inc." All of the lawsuits delayed construction, and were eventually dismissed. During construction, one worker, Kent Crappell, was killed when a piling he was driving into place crumbled and collapsed. He immediately moved the crane so the piling would fall away from other workers and the existing bridge. The weight of the piling subsequently tipped over and crushed the cab of the crane, killing Crappell. Had Crappell not acted immediately, the piling would have fallen onto traffic on the existing bridge. ^[3] The current Bridge A finally opened for traffic on June 28, 2007, along with a new toll plaza. The following day, a private ceremony was conducted by the Sanibel-Captiva Optimists Club to commemorate the final opening of the drawbridge. The Sanibel-Captiva Optimists Club had held a raffle for the opportunity to be the operator of the drawbridge's machinery for its final opening. Seasonal Sanibel residents Bob and Ana Finks won the raffle, and they got to keep the operating lever from the drawbridge's control room as part of the prize. At the end of the ceremony, the drawbridge's draw spans were permanently left open. ^[4] On October 30, 2007, during demolition of the drawbridge, the remains of the two bascule piers were imploded. Many Sanibel residents came to view the blast from the shore in Punta Rassa. The blast itself was actually delayed an hour because some dolphins and a manatee and came too close to the site before detonation, and crews had to wait for them to leave the area. Traffic on Bridge A was halted for about a half hour after the blast. ^[5]

[edit] Bridge B

Bridge B is the middle bridge, and is also the shortest of the three bridges. The current Bridge B opened for traffic on April 11, 2007, and was the first of the current spans to open. The current Bridge B was built ten feet taller than the original Bridge B to help reduce corrosion from salt spray, which was one of the major factors in the deterioration of the old bridge. Unlike the other two bridges, Bridge B is a low-level bridge, and has no navigation channel passing underneath. The weekend after the current bridge opened, many fisherman used the original bridge to fish from. This led to a grassroots campaign to have part of the bridge left intact as a fishing pier. The campaign succeeded, and the first few pilings on the south end were left in place, and brand new deck sections will be constructed on top of them. The pier is scheduled to be completed sometime in the summer of 2008. The pier will be similar to the fishing pier constructed out of the original bridges on the Sunshine Skyway in St. Petersburg.^[6]

[edit] Bridge C

Bridge C is the closest bridge to Sanibel Island, and is also the longest of the three bridges. The current Bridge C opened for traffic on September 8, 2007, and was the last of the current spans to open. A grand-opening ceremony was held the same day to commemorate the completion of the current spans. As part of the grand opening ceremony, the first group of cars to cross the current Bridge C was a procession of "classic cars", followed by regular traffic. Similar to Bridge B, the current Bridge C was also constructed ten feet taller than the original bridge. Bridge C's vertical clearance over its navigation channel is 26 feet.

[edit] Gallery

The Toll Plaza	The remains of the original Bridge B. A new fishing pier will be constructed on top of these pilings.	Both the old Bridge A (the drawbridge) and the current Bridge A. Demolition is now complete on the drawbridge.	The top of the drawbridge's draw spans as seen from the current bridge. The drawbridge has since been demolished.
The demolition progress on the old Bridge A as of October 2007.	Demolition on old Bridge C

[edit] References

[edit] External links

• Sanibel Causeway and Bridge Construction Project
• Lee County Department of Transportation Homepage

Coordinates: 26°28′35″N, 82°01′32″W