STUART, Fla. – A bridge connecting a major north-south artery in a Florida city was closed Wednesday after a piece of concrete fell from the span and a crack opened up, authorities said.
The Roosevelt Bridge in Stuart was closed by the Florida Department of Transportation, said state Rep. Toby Overdorf.
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The bridge carries traffic from U.S. 1 over the St. Lucie River. The Coast Guard also created a safety zone to stop all commercial boaters from going under the bridge. Stuart is located about 40 miles (64 kilometers) north of West Palm Beach.
The Stuart Police Department received a report about the falling concrete late Tuesday, according to TCPalm.
“We’re going to be waiting, obviously, for the bridge to be evaluated, and once it’s deemed safe we’ll reopen everything,” said Sgt. Brian Bossio, a Stuart Police Department spokesman. “But right now we have no idea how long we’re looking at before it’s reopened.”
In 2018, a pedestrian bridge at Florida International University in Miami collapsed and killed six people while under construction. Ten other people were injured when the concrete span smashed eight cars.