Miami-Dade County is going to get safer bridges. Along the Venetian Causeway, around a dozen bridges are undergoing significant renovations.
Every day, almost 25,000 cars travel the 2.5-mile route from Miami to Miami Beach, which is made up of 12 crucial bridges along the water.
“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,” Miami-Dade Highway Bridge Engineering Division Project Manager Gebriel Delgado stated.
Joggers, walkers, and bikers also like it, and let’s not overlook the breathtaking views that many people find appealing.
“So we are talking about quality of life,” Miami-Dade Mayor Daniella Levine Cava stated. “We’re talking about safety, resilience, aesthetics.”
Everything that will be included in the new, cutting-edge 11-bridge project.
“The bridges were constructed in 1926, so that’s bringing us close to 100 years of age in these bridges,” Delgado stated. “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.”
According to Delgado, she and Miami-Dade officials have three objectives: preserving the bridges’ historic character, strengthening them against future storm surges, and making them safer for traffic and pedestrians.
“These bridges today are structurally insufficient, they don’t meet the current standard,” Deputy Director for Miami-Dade Department of Transportation and Public Works Josiel Ferrer-Diaz stated. “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.”
The bridges need a lot of maintenance and repairs these days, and new foundations will be built from the ground up to make them stronger for storm events, raise them so larger boats can pass underneath, and widen these sidewalks so people feel safe at all times.
All the bridges will be brought up to code, but in the interim, Fisher said, there is no need to worry, they are not in critical condition, and they are safe for drivers and pedestrians because this causeway is a hurricane emergency evacuation route.
During the project, engineers and construction workers will construct temporary bridges to ensure traffic flows consistently.
“We are estimating a four-year construction timeline for the project,” Delgado stated. “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.”
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In addition to being a top priority, it is Miami-Dade County’s biggest public works project. The enormous project, which has cost $212 million in total, has been under way for more than a decade.
To that end, Miami-Dade County has received $100.5 million from the federal government, $36 million from the state, and the remaining funds will be provided by the county.
