Bridge Over Sebastian Inlet to be Replaced
By Greg Pallone Brevard County
PUBLISHED October 7, 2019 @6:15 PM


BREVARD COUNTY, Fla. -- A decades-old bridge linking Brevard and Indian counties will be replaced after it was damaged in Hurricane Dorian.

Sebastian Inlet bridge to be replaced.

The decades-old bridge was damaged in Hurricane Dorian.

A new bridge could cost upwards of $11 million.

The half-mile bridge over Sebastian Inlet dates back to the mid-1960s.

An FDOT post-storm inspection revealed it's structurally deficient, and must be replaced within the next six years.

Officials say it's still safe to drive over at this point.

A new bridge could cost upwards of $11 million, and include new bike lanes which the old one doesn't have.

In the meantime, during construction, commuters will have to drive an estimated 40 extra miles around from Melbourne to Vero Beach.

"If it's got to get done, it's got to get done," says Lorena Loucel of West Melbourne, who drives down this way frequently. "Safety comes first. I hope the bridge gets done quickly and back on track."

Just south of the bridge, a $5 million restoration project is underway to fix issues to State Road A1A caused by Hurricane Matthew in 2016.

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Dora Hates You

I love how they followup "I hope the bridge gets done quickly" with the fact that repair work from Matthew is just now getting started.

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R I P Mama G.

@Salt.And.Savagery.Fishing

@Laserwolf.Laserwolf

Edited: 10/10/2019 at 08:07 AM by Long Beard

LOL no kidding.

and you know they will have that bridge closed off for at least a year..

2024 will be a real pain in the ass hahaa

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Zzzzzzz.. Zzzzzzz.. Braaaaaapp!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

My family built that bridge. Our family construction company. My dad and my uncles. Very proud of it. My dad was most proud of
Figuring out how to pour the concrete in that current. Helicopters. Cleary brothers construction in 1965.

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sebastian_Inlet_Bridge

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"One of the reasons why propaganda tries to get you to hate government is because it's the one existing institution in which people can participate to some extent and constrain tyrannical unaccountable power." Noam Chomsky.

Thats pretty cool

Thats gonna make for a very quiet year here on the very south beaches! Might have to invest in a pontoon boat and do shuttles from the tidal pool to the boat ramps.

Didn't they shut it down for awhile several yrs ago. IIRC, kept the crowd to a minimum both in the water and on the jetty.
I wouldn't complain!

No complaints here! Yea, they shut it down for hours at a time on certain days, but they had one of those electronic signs saying when it would be. Its crazy to think if it was shut down for an entire year. It will be a ghost town down here.

So all the South FL surfers will have to go all the way around from mainland at Melbourne? But we lose straight access to Wabasso? Fair enough, not looking forward to the drive south on US1 during the windy season....they better triple that budget..the $5 mil they used for A1a near the bridge was for a small job compared to the bridge...

Edited: 10/09/2019 at 11:48 AM by SurferMic

This is very bad news for those who fish the south side of the inlet regularly like myself... not stoked on the news at all

Or for those of us that use the boat ramps. Will have to put in at inlet marina or longpoint.

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So who here has jumped off the bridge? I did once with the Drazich Brothers. The three of us were up there looking down and wondering who is going first. Sam says to me I'll buy you a coke if you go first, so I did. I dropped straight down without jumping out, landed perfect, arms down at my side and went deep like a bullet. Sam and George followed the same way, no injuries from any of us. Off course this was not very smart, we could have been injured and I do not recommend doing this to anybody. We were young and foolish. Some weeks later sitting out at first peak waiting for a set, we see people up on the bridge. One of them was GP and he must of actually jumped out off the bridge and you could see his legs swinging forward. When he hit the water you could here it from first peak. I do not think he was injured either (seriously anyway), but I'm sure it hurt.
The good old days.

GP?

Gary Paul?

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Dora Hates You

Heard that.

The update is that it will begin in six years and cost more than $50 million.



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I was right.

Same story here. The boat ramp is on that side too. It's easy enough to put in somewhere else but I have an annual pass and I like fishing from land more than the boat most times when I'm solo. It will be interesting to see how it all plays out. I'm sure the north side will be a madhouse for fishing though, even more than it already is. But I like the solitude you can get on the south jetty and beach sometimes. I can't imagine 6 years without it but I don't think I want to add however many miles it is to go around via car.

Maybe they can build the new one with the old one standing.

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Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

That's what I thought initially. However, from the OP's post, it seems like they are stating otherwise. I hope so.

See a problem, solve a problem, make a few bucks. Someone should contact a ferry to come down for the year. There are four licensed ferry companies in Florida. Licensed were Havana Ferry Partners of Fort Lauderdale, Baja Ferries of Miami, United Caribbean Lines Florida of Greater Orlando and Airline Brokers Co. of Miami and Fort Lauderdale.

confused

6 years before they start



and it will take 6 years to build????



something is wrong
maybe 6 years before they start but 6 years to build ???

[IMG]https://media3.giphy.com/media/104UnLyTpxo28o/giphy.gif[/IMG]

Edited: 10/12/2019 at 09:33 AM by HAPDigital

Bridge being out shouldn't be a problem for them Duke Boys..







Odd that they are saying it was damaged during Dorian though- that storm barely knocked palm fronds to the ground.

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Zzzzzzz.. Zzzzzzz.. Braaaaaapp!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Edited: 10/12/2019 at 02:07 PM by fishkller

LOL or James bond.

The estimate for the rebuild is one year.

The giant ramps will be completed is just under a month.

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I was right.

FDOT post storm inspection........ same organization that brought us the recent A1A road improvements? Same org that is bringing us a completely unneeded Ellis I-95 ramp between 192 and Eau Gallie? Same org that just coned off 100% of IHB thru Indialantic to put in a handful of medians that should have been put in when they made previous said A1A improvements? More clownage from one of the worst run gubment orgs we have. I hope someone challenges the merit of their findings.........

^^^ The exit off I95 it to grow the Melbourne-Orlando International airport. "The airport exit", was it needed??..not really, in the future 10-20 yrs from now..yeah maybe a good idea, we will see. I wonder what will happen to Ellis road. The A1A medians are for crosswalks that are being built currently, the cones were needed so they could dig then go directly to the next spot and dig; it was a huge machine doing the work...cones are now being taken away, was not much of a delay maybe an extra two to three minutes? I have had one friend (RIP Art Stroud) and a neighbor hit and killed crossing A1A in my area, crosswalks way overdue. The bridge..well that is going to be a huge project, bike lanes, maybe taller? Not sure where the money will come from ...FDOT? Sebastian Beach Tax District? Hopefully they can patch fix the structure rather than full replacement. I do not know much about the damage. Did you vote for the .05 tax increase? Not even going to start on the muck removal boondoggle.

Edited: 10/15/2019 at 01:18 PM by SurferMic

Have to disagree with you on this point. Guess you dont work out by Ellis and 95 like I do. If you did you would realize how bad the traffic is on John Rodes and that this ramp is needed. Agree with you on the other points. And wish FDOT did a better job communicating their plans with the residents beachside and give us more opportunity to be part of the process and let us decide where the cross walks should go. I am glad that we are getting one by my beach access but there is no sidewalk on the east side of A1A so it wasnt planned out very well.

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Oh boy this will be fun. The stated purpose of the Ellis ramp is to "allevite traffic" from 192 and Eau Gallie "for the airport". Because you know, soooooooooooo many people are influxing by car from the N and S to fly out of Melbourne. As a matter of fact, I work off John Rodes. This ramp is going to make it worse!!!! This money should have been used to 4 lane Ellis and John Rodes end to end which is so badly needed. I dont see how you possibly think adding more traffic onto 2 lanes of Jon Rodes is going to help? A1A crosswalks - I have learned to like them, though they were poorly thought out. One of my points was - why were the ones they are working now not added at the time they just re-paved A1A and put alllllll the other crosswalks in a year ago?? typical FDOT. Come back a year later and cut up the concrete. They coned off the entire lanes 100% from IHB to 192 including all the intersections. Then there was not a worker around for atleast a week. Do you know why they re-did the cones in a more efficient manner recently? Because people were calling them (Melanie) saying WTF why is Eau Gallie turning onto N A1A coned off for a median 1/2 mile up the road, it makes no sense. Why is Paradise coned off? So they "re-evaluated" and reworked the cones and I agree its much better now and I understand they need them for safety. But why not think it thru and put them how they are now in the first place? Because FDOT thinks nothing through before they do it... Back to the subject at hand - I hope someone challenges the inspection. Sounds like someone wants to build a new bridge, bike lanes and all. toodles.

Ya sfds totally agree that a ramp for the "Airport" is BS. And ya ellis and john rodes needs to be 4 laned but you dont think this ramp will help to alleviate the traffic backed up at 5pm for those that have to take john rodes to I-95? Of course it will.

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Yes, I see what you're saying. I hope so.

You'll ding your boards driving like that!

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Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

There is apparently hope. I read an article last night in our local 32963 about the bridge and FDOT was interviewed saying it is way to early to say how much or how long it will take to replace and that they will be doing a study to see how to keep the traffic flowing while the work is being done.

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Replace turf grass with native plants that don't need irrigation and synthetic fertilizers or chemicals that can go into our waterways and ocean

Could these be the same genius folks that allowed a WAWA to go in at 192/US1 (already bad before) without adding a right hand turn lane?

It's a total clusterf&^ every morning there now- backed up to the bridge, people pulling kook turns every which way trying to get in, out and across

Wait til we have that train going by every hour it will be over the damn bridge SMH nice work

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Zzzzzzz.. Zzzzzzz.. Braaaaaapp!

Zzzzzzzzzzzzzz....

Edited: 10/18/2019 at 06:05 PM by fishkller

Is there a Wawa anywhere that isn't a rat maze to enter?

A year for the bridge does seem like a ridiculous amount of time.

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I was right.