History
The original four-lane bridge opened in 1968. It consisted of twin spans of two lanes each with no shoulders and was heavily damaged during Hurricane Ivan in 2004. The storm surge knocked a total of 58 spans off the eastbound and westbound bridges and misaligned another 66 spans, causing the bridge to close to traffic in both directions. Traffic normally destined for the bridge was rerouted along US Highway 90 for over two months while temporary spans were built along the bridge's existing substructure, resulting in severe traffic jams. The original bridge, with its temporary spans, reopened in November 2004 with traffic reduced to one lane in each direction.
Construction on a new bridge to replace the one damaged by the hurricane began in early 2006. As the original bridge was left in place during construction, the new bridge was routed to the south and has a curved alignment near the beginning and end of each approach. Unlike the previous bridge, the new bridge features a total of six lanes (three eastbound and three westbound) as well as shoulders, modern barrier walls and lighting. The westbound portion of the bridge opened on December 12, 2007.
The bridge connects the northern part of Florida with the Gulf Coast and is used by an estimated 50,000 vehicles per day.
Read more about this topic: Escambia Bay Bridge
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