Indian River Inlet Bridge

The Indian River Inlet Replacement Bridge will be 2,600 feet long, including a 900 foot clear span over the inlet, with 1,700 feet of bridge decking over the land. All supports will be out of the water, eliminating the conditions that now exist with the existing bridge. The new bridge will have a minimum 100-year design life. The foundations will be supported on 36 inch-square piles. It will have two 240 foot high towers / pylons on each side of the bridge with single plane cable-stays.

Under the new design, the minimum vertical clearance will increase from the existing 35 feet to 45 feet over the navigational portion of the inlet. The bridge will have two 12-foot wide travel lanes, a 10-foot wide outside shoulder, and a 4-foot wide inside shoulder in each direction. Additionally, one 12-foot wide sidewalk will be accessed from the east side of the bridge. The reduced embankment limits will result in the elimination of massive embankments and will provide an open view. DelDOT’s reason for replacing the bridge is the severe scouring that has taken place over the years, resulting in an Inlet depth of approximately 28 feet in 1965, to an Inlet depth greater than 100 feet today. The Army Corps first reported evidence of significant scouring in the 1980s after an underwater survey indicated that the bridge supports, in the Inlet were exposed and undermined. An additional concern related to the scour is the exposure of the steel H piles to salt water.

FINLEY will provide construction engineering services including design of erection equipment and falsework and off-site technical assistance.

Construction began in late 2008. The superstructure and cable-stay construction will being in the Spring of 2010 with the bridge scheduled to open to traffic by Summer 2011.