Escambia Bay Bridge

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Escambia Bay Bridge
Carries	6 lanes of I-10
Crosses	Escambia Bay
Locale	Escambia County / Santa Rosa County, near Pensacola, Florida, USA
Maintained by	Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT)
ID number	480213 (eastbound) 480214 (westbound)
Design	Reinforced concrete girder bridge
Total length	13,820 feet (4,212.3 meters) eastbound 13,736 feet (4,186.8 meters) westbound
Clearance below	65 feet (19.8 meters)
Opened	1968 (original bridge) 2007 (current bridge)
Daily traffic	50,000^[1]
Coordinates	30°31′08″N 87°08′39″W / 30.518947°N 87.144069°W / 30.518947; -87.144069Coordinates: 30°31′08″N 87°08′39″W / 30.518947°N 87.144069°W / 30.518947; -87.144069

The Escambia Bay Bridge is a six-lane freeway bridge that carries Interstate 10 across Escambia Bay near Pensacola, 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 during Hurricane Ivan in 2004.^[2] 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.^[3] Traffic normally destined for the bridge was rerouted along U.S. Highway 90 for over two months while temporary spans were built along the bridge's existing substructure, resulting in severe traffic jams. The original bridge, with its temporary spans, reopened in November 2004 with traffic reduced to one lane in each direction.

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, modern barrier walls and lighting. The westbound portion of the bridge opened on December 12, 2007.^[4]

The bridge connects the northern part of Florida with the Gulf Coast and is used by an estimated 50,000 vehicles per day.

References

↑ FDOT Florida Traffic Online Accessed May 25, 2011.
↑ "Bridge Replacement over Escambia Bay". Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
↑ "Repairing Florida's Escambia Bay Bridge". ACP Construction. Retrieved 2007-08-14.
↑ "Replacement of I-10 Bridges". Florida Department of Transportation. Retrieved 2008-04-09.

External links

v t e Notable bridges and tunnels in Florida

Panhandle	Escambia Bay Garcon Point John Gorrie Mid-Bay Pensacola Bay St. George Island Trammell Victory

North	Acosta Bridge of Lions Main Street Buckman Dames Point Fuller Warren Hart Mathews Memorial Strauss Trunnion

West Central	Bayside Clearwater Memorial Courtney Campbell Gandy Howard Frankland Pinellas Bayway Sunshine Skyway Treasure Island

East Central	A. Max Brewer Astor Bennett Bert Dosh Broadway Eau Gallie Granada Melbourne Merritt Island NASA Osteen Pineda Port Orange Roosevelt Wabasso Whitehair

South	Boca Grande^‡ Broad Cape Coral Coral Springs^† Julia Tuttle John F. Kennedy John Ringling Lehman MacArthur Matanzas Pass Midpoint Rickenbacker Sanibel Snow-Reed^‡ Venetian

Keys	Bahia Honda Card Sound Jewfish Creek Overseas Highway Seven Mile

Tunnels	New River Port of Miami

Ferries	Drayton Island Fort Gates Mayport

^† – Covered bridge ^‡ – Swing bridge See also: List of bridges in Florida

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