MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Safer bridges are coming to Miami-Dade County.
Nearly a dozen bridges along the Venetian Causeway are getting a major makeover.
Around 25,000 cars driver over a 2.5 mile stretch of road from Miami to Miami Beach, composed of 12 essential bridges right by the water, every day.
“The amount of traffic, the amount of tourism, and the amount of workers that are coming back-and-forth between the cities of Miami Beach and Miami it’s hugely important,” said Miami-Dade Highway Bridge Engineering Division Project Manager Gabriel Delgado.
It’s also enjoyed by joggers, walkers and bikers, and let’s not forget the stellar views that please many.
“So we are talking about quality of life,” said Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava. “We’re talking about safety, resilience, aesthetics.”
All things that the new, state-of-the-art 11-bridge project will include.
“The bridges were constructed in 1926, so that’s bringing us close to 100 years of age in these bridges,” said Delgado. “As a result, of all of the storms they’ve experienced, all of the deterioration because of the aggressive salt water environment. We’ve had to maintain them with expensive repairs.”
Delgado said she and Miami-Dade officials have three goals: Make the bridges safer for pedestrians and drivers, make them stronger for future storm surges and maintain their historic character.
“These bridges today are structurally insufficient, they don’t meet the current standard,” said Deputy Director for Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works Josiel Ferrer-Diaz. “These bridges that you see, they have standard railings, the lines are substandard, as well as what you don’t see, which is the bottom of the bridge. Can also show some level of erosion and corrosion in the beams.”
Added Delgado: “Those steel plates have been put in place to further protect the existing deck.”
Local 10 News’ Hannah Yechivi decided to take a closer look underneath with the highway bridge engineer for Miami-Dade County.
“So you have corrosion, corrosion of the nots, corrosion of the bolts, you have failure of the coding system, the coding system is really what protects the bridge from these elements,” said Ryan Fisher. “It’s really great that they’ve held up this well for 100 years.”
Corrosion and deterioration everywhere. These days, the bridges require a lot of maintenance and repairs.
New foundations will be built from scratch, making them sturdier for storm events, lifting them for larger boats to pass underneath, and widening these sidewalks for people to feel safe at all times.
All the bridges will be brought up to standard, but in the meantime, Fisher said there is no need to worry, they are not in critical condition and are safe for drivers and pedestrians, as this causeway is a hurricane emergency evacuation route.
“We reduced the weight limit on this bridge over the years as its aged, and that is a great inconvenience for the residents that are not able to bring in various things that exceed the weight limit,” said Levine Cava.
For the duration of the project, engineers and construction workers will build temporary bridges to make sure traffic is always flowing.
“We are estimating a four-year construction timeline for the project,” said Delgado. “So all of the bridges are going to be a little bit higher from what you’re seeing. You’re going to have massive drill shaft going into the water between 50 and 70 feet, you’re going to have more strongly, bolstered, approaches and sea walls. These bridges are going to withstand some of the strongest storm that can be taken in Miami.”
It’s not only high priority, but also the largest public works project in Miami-Dade County. The massive project has been in the works for more than 10 years and has a total price tag of $212 million dollars.
Towards that, the federal government has granted Miami-Dade County $100.5 million, the state came up with $36 million and the remaining money will come from the county.