Rebuilding a community link: when the bridge to a popular Florida island developed a severe crack, the county DOT sprang into action. Here's how the bridge reopened ahead of schedule

Public Roads, Sept-Oct, 2003 by Norah Davis

What if you're faced with closing down a bridge that is the only link between an island community and the mainland, in the middle of the busy tourist season? How would you prepare for the possibility of medical emergencies, so you don't leave residents stranded while the bridge is closed for repairs? Naturally the repair calls for an effective plan, community involvement, and an even faster rebuild.

Sanibel Island on the Gulf Coast of Florida, near Fort Myers and 2 hours' drive south of Tampa, is a popular vacation destination for winter tourists. The 23-kilometer (14-mile) long island is home to about 6,000 permanent residents. Sanibel and adjacent Captiva Island have miles of white sand beaches beloved by shell collectors. On one shore of Sanibel is the J.N. "Ding" Darling National Wildlife Refuge, a destination for bird watchers. The only way to reach these locations from the mainland is by a causeway connected by three bridges--or by boat.

On January 6, 2003--at the peak of the tourist season--the Lee County Department of Transportation (DOT) discovered a severe crack in a beam that supports the causeway's middle bridge. After a temporary emergency repair to stabilize the bridge and protect public safety, the county DOT worked feverishly for 2 weeks preparing to replace part of the superstructure of the aging span.

The story made the evening news and the front page of the local newspaper day after day, as island residents and businesses prepared to be cut off from the mainland. Parents sent their children to motels in Fort Myers so that they would not miss school if the bridge failed to reopen on schedule. A helicopter stood by in case of medical emergencies, and officials urged people using medications to ask their doctors to extend their prescriptions. The phone company stationed personnel on the island for emergency repairs in case of a broken line. Trash pickups were rescheduled.

During the bridge shutdown, all went smoothly. Island restaurants ferried their employees over by boat. The United Parcel Service used a boat to deliver thousands of packages. Sanibel hotels offered specials to tourists so that they could extend their stays. And the hotels and restaurants staged "make-lemonade-out-of-lemons" parties.

A Model of Teamwork

Island residents made positive comments about the Lee County DOT when the bridge reopened hours ahead of schedule. The Fort Myers newspaper, The News-Press, carried a full-page story under a banner headline and ran a companion human-interest piece titled, "Islanders, Visitors Go with the Flow." The experience was like going back in time with many residents riding bicycles on parts of the causeway that were still open. Several residents joked that the bridge should close more often. However, based on numerous comments, one of the main emotions that people felt was relief when the bridge reopened early.

What the local media did not report was that the DOT planned it that way.

"We picked a timeframe that we "knew that we could make," says Paul Wingard, P.E., deputy director of the Lee County DOT. "If we shorted ourselves [by releasing a completion date that could not be met], we could've stranded tourists, so we gave ourselves some extra time."

In fact, the Lee County DOT planned for several contingencies, as did the Lee County Board of Commissioners, who granted emergency powers to their chairman so that he could act on decisions quickly. Similarly, the Sanibel-Captiva Islands Chamber of Commerce coordinated a transportation plan for an anticipated 2,000 tourists and held a massive public information campaign so visitors and essential personnel would know where to park on the mainland and what to expect. Best of all, the residents and visitors rose to the occasion and took the inconvenience with exceptionally good humor.

The upshot? The story of Sanibel Island's bridge repair is a model success story--with a couple of lessons learned, of course.

Historical Perspective

The county built the causeway to Sanibel Island in 1961-1962 and opened it ha 1963, paying for the construction with a bond issue. In this model, revenues from tolls repay the bond and build up a replacement fund.

Starting from the mainland, the 5-kilometer (3-mile) causeway consists of bridge A (a drawbridge); then a spoil island, built with sand dredged from San Carlos Bay; bridge B (the one that developed the severe crack); another spoil island; and finally bridge C, which connects to Sanibel Island. The two-lane causeway and bridges consist of two 4-meter (14-foot) lanes with no shoulders.

Because of the bridge's location, the saltwater environment is conducive to corrosion. Each of the two fixed-span bridges is constructed of four precast concrete beams with concrete decks, founded on pile caps supported by piles driven into the sea bottom. The spans were designed for lighter trucks than those typically found on highways today; however, nothing was wrong with that. The legal design loads used in the late 1950s were smaller than today's design loads (H15 versus HS20 or HS25, for example).