NASSAU COUNTY, Fla. – A lengthy reinforcement project to better protect a bridge in Nassau County that helps connect Florida to Georgia along I-95 is underway.
The work will lead to some traffic changes over the next 12 months.
Heading north on I-95 between the Florida and Georgia welcome signs — drivers take the bridge over the St. Marys River.
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Hampton Ray with the Florida Department of Transportation said there’s one goal in mind.
“Things like this, cathodic protection is really about future-proofing the bridge. We want to make sure that the bridge is around for a really long time,” Ray said.
It’s a rehabilitation project to help make this bridge last longer as FDOT assesses each state bridge every two years.
Ray said there are three main parts to this project:
1. Cathodic protection: which focuses on the electrodes that are on the piers of the bridge that go down to the water level.
“It makes it to where the concrete that is used last a lot longer, and it protects the bridge from the elements, in particular saltwater. It is a challenge for every different type of material. That includes the concrete and the rebar that is in there,” Ray said.
2. Fender system: which focuses on protection for the actual piers themselves.
“If a boater happened to be boating along, they could hit a pile. We do not want that. That is not good for the boater. It is not good for the bridge,” Ray said.
3. Milling and resurfacing: There’s also expected to be milling and resurfacing on the top of the bridge.
“Giving drivers a more comfortable commute as they may be headed to Kings Bay or travel north,” Ray said.
All that work is going to lead to some lane closures over the next year, according to FDOT.
- There will be either single or double-lane closures northbound at night only
- Only from Mondays through Fridays
- From 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
“There may be lane shifts as the work takes place. We are going to do our best to limit those lane closures to only at night so that we can work on this bridge and really provide it as a good value to taxpayers,” Ray said.
And help the materials last as long as possible.
Ray said this project is expected to take a year to complete and should be done by next summer.
FDOT said crews will also be working on another bridge in that area this week.
Crews will be doing routine maintenance on the St. Marys River Bridge, which carries U-S 17 over the river. It’s a movable swing bridge that twists to let boats through.
It will be closed from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Thursday of this upcoming week of July 22-25.
Drivers will be detoured to take I-95 over the river when the bridge is closed.