Public votes on Indian River Inlet bridge design features
The Coffeys and Brittingham were local residents who cast the first votes on three aesthetic design features for the new Indian River Inlet bridge during a public information session Monday, April 27, at the Rehoboth Beach Convention Center.
The builders, Skanska Southeast and Delaware Department of Transportation (DelDOT), are asking the public to choose a color for the cable stays (white, gray or blue), a design for the tops of four towers and a design for lights on the pedestrian walkway on the east side of the bridge.
The Coffeys have a particular interest in the appearance of the new $150 million bridge – they look at it outside their window every morning when they wake up in their development along Route 1 south of the bridge. They even feel the rumbles of every pile being driven into the sand near the inlet.
Jay Erwin, representing Skanska, and Andrew Bing, representing consultants Kramer and Associates, offered those attending the session a construction update.
The new bridge will have two travel lanes in each direction with shoulders and a protected pedestrian walkway on the east side. The bridge will be almost one-half-mile long with the main span across the inlet at 900 feet. The main supports for the bridge and the cable stays are four 249-foot towers.
Erwin said the test-pile phase of the project is nearly complete. This summer, workers will begin placing the foundation of the bridge’s, more than 290, 50- to 60-ton concrete piles will begin. Construction of footings and substructure will also begin.
“I know this will be a welcome sight,” Erwin said.
Construction of the massive 249-foot pylons – the four towers – starts in early fall and will continue until next summer. The 24-story towers will be the tallest structures in the county and become beacons to navigation for boaters and ship captains in the Atlantic Ocean.
Erwin said a 300-ton tower crane, like those used to construct high-rise buildings in large cities, would be used to construct the towers.
Once the new bridge is completed, the old bridge will be demolished and parking and camping at Delaware Seashore State Park, located near the bridge, will be enhanced.
Most were glad to hear Erwin say the bridge would be completed and open to traffic in the spring or summer of 2011.
“When it’s finished we’ll sit on our porch, look at it and have a beer,” Debbie Coffey said.
Vote on design features: irib.deldot.gov - or goto http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=Rif_2brSek9ofW700qendN2g_3d_3d
Deadline is Monday, May 11
