Equipment on site includes 10 barges in various sizes and seven cranes under use in different capacities such as driving piles, breaking existing foundation, auguring, handling equipment and material and picking heavy loads.
(Florida Department of Transportation photo)
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) is managing traffic for a $122 million bridge replacement project in Jupiter using a Smart Work Zone, part of an Intelligent Transportation System that will be permanently installed.
"A Smart Work Zone is a series of strategies and technologies employed around an infrastructure project to increase safety and increase mobility for the area," said Daniel Smith, FDOT operations manager.
Those strategies include real-time traffic information and other technologies managed by the agency's Traffic Management Center.
"We have ways to monitor traffic," Smith said. "We know how many vehicles are passing through any given spot. We have engineers looking to optimize the traffic signals through the area to decrease the impact of the public. We have people watching our cameras to observe any safety issues that might pop up. If there are any issues and we'll be watching."
The project replaces a 65-year-old bascule bridge over SR 5/U.S. 1 over the Loxahatchee River / Intracoastal Waterway in Jupiter. The existing bridge was determined to be structurally deficient and functionally obsolete. An update was needed to improve traffic operations, improve bicycle and pedestrian safety, and improve the vertical and horizontal clearances at the navigable channel, project spokesman Andrea Pacini said.
The original bridge, built in 1958, carried two lanes of traffic in each direction and had 2-ft. shoulders with no dedicated sidewalks or bicycle lanes. The replacement bridge, under construction by Johnson Bros. Corp., is a twin double-leaf drawbridge. It will have two 11-ft.-wide travel lanes in each direction, 8-ft.-wide sidewalks and 7-ft.-wide bike lanes in both directions. It will have 42 ft. of vertical clearance, an improvement of 25 ft. at the center, a 125-ft. navigable channel width, as well as a new tender house and pedestrian overlooks.
The biggest challenge of the project is working over the water.
"Working over water is always a challenge in construction," Pacini said. "Not only do you need to worry about the construction itself, but the team needs to be aware of several additional issues such as marine life and endangered species, maintaining a navigable channel, and environmental constraints. Weather conditions and tide changes also have a significant impact on daily work."
One of the unique features of the project is the use of precast seals, which eliminated the need to construct a cofferdam to build the foundation in the water.
"Normally, the contractor would have to install sheet piles and create a cofferdam to then remove the water and start the construction of the foundation," Pacini said. "The precast seals sit on top of the installed 30 square inch concrete piles and provide a dry environment for the construction staff to build the bridge foundation."
The project team worked to proactively mitigate potential issues before the project began and is on track to open the bridge to traffic in early 2026.
"The project team is coordinating closely with the Jupiter Inlet Lighthouse and Museum to ensure that the irreplaceable glass prisms for the lighthouse light are protected during pile driving activities. The current velocities going through the inlet do pose daily challenges."
For the 20-month bridge closure and detour, temporary intersection improvements that consist of additional turn lanes were constructed at U.S. 1 at SR 706/Indiantown Road, Alternate A1A and SR 706/Indiantown Road and U.S. 1 and Alternate A1A/ Beach Road. Permanent intersection improvements also were constructed at Alternate A1A and Old Dixie Highway.
According to FDOT, "The Intelligent Transportation System installed to improve traffic flow will improve travel times, alleviate congestion, allow real-time adjustments of traffic signal timing and allow advance notification to the public of traffic delays. A system that allows emergency vehicles to receive green lights at signalized intersections also has been deployed to reduce emergency response times."
Marine traffic will be maintained; however, the U.S. Coast Guard has imposed a moratorium on bridge openings on the Indiantown Road Bridge during specified hours during construction.
Equipment on site includes:
- 10 barges in various sizes
- Seven cranes under use in different capacities such as driving piles, breaking existing foundation, auguring, handling equipment and material and picking heavy loads.
Cranes include:
- Red American 9310
- Manitowoc 888
- Manitowoc 777
- Manitowoc 2250
- Manitowoc 4100
- Liebherr 1300
- Barcelona Manitowoc 1200 (rented) CEG
Lori Tobias
Lori Tobias is a journalist of more years than she cares to count, most recently as a staff writer for The Oregonian and previously as a columnist and features writer for the Rocky Mountain News. She is the author of the memoir, Storm Beat - A Journalist Reports from the Oregon Coast, and the novel Wander, winner of the Nancy Pearl Literary Award in 2017. She has freelanced for numerous publications, including The New York Times, The Denver Post, Alaska Airlines in-flight, Natural Home, Spotlight Germany, Vegetarian Times and the Miami Herald. She is an avid reader, enjoys kayaking, traveling and exploring the Oregon Coast where she lives with her husband Chan and rescue pups, Gus and Lily.
Read more from Lori Tobias here.
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