Curious Coast: Unique design, weather delays slow Daytona's Orange Ave. bridge
DAYTONA BEACH — Three million pounds of steel. Enough concrete to cover 130 football fields. Fifty workers perched on cranes above and boats below.
It all adds up to one $38 million mission: Construct the first bridge of its kind in Florida over the Intracoastal Waterway linking Orange Avenue to the beachside.
When the project began in the summer of 2016, it was expected to wrap by early 2019.
But as the first of seven arches began rising toward the Daytona Beach sky — a sight that caused many locals and tourists to stop in their tracks in admiration — it became clear the summer of 2019 was a more realistic goal for completion. Chalk the delay up to Florida's unpredictable weather, including two hurricanes in as many years, county officials say.
That timeline though, even the original deadline, has prompted questions from the public and it’s our latest entry in The News-Journal’s Curious Coast series, a project that lets readers decide what we cover.
“Why is the new Orange Avenue Bridge taking three years to complete?” asked Bill Sheridan, a Daytona Beach resident who lives off nearby Beach Street.
“It seems like it’s taking a long time,” he later added. “I use the bridge and it’s a real inconvenience not having it; it’s been three years.”
If this bridge were easy, cheap or quick, perhaps more counties in Florida would opt for a bridge like it. But Volusia County officials, looking for more than a "run of the mill" span like the one at International Speedway Boulevard or Seabreeze Boulevard (which took two years to complete between 1995 and 1997) thought bigger, better and different. They envisioned an icon worthy of postcards when it finally opens.
After all, this isn’t just another bridge. In addition to the unique archways under the 1,885-foot span, which relies on 250 pilings driven into the riverbed below and another 153 support beams, the bridge also will serve as a monument to local veterans who died in American military conflicts during the past 240 years.
Building the bridge is also like working a puzzle that's too big for the card table. County Engineer Tadd Kasbeer said most of the pieces, like the archways, are put together on site before being placed on the bridge. Tougher than building the bridge itself is finding enough space along the riverbanks, to house the pieces as they're connected.
Considering its scope, cost, size and all the parts involved, when the county and its contractor, Orlando-based Johnson Brothers, worked out the timetable for how long the project should take, three years seemed like a workable goal.
This isn't something you want to rush, said Kasbeer, who took over as county engineer when Gerry Brinton retired earlier this year.
"It's very important that we get this right," Kasbeer said, explaining why it's such a rare project. "Most of the counties look at the cheapest option they can; a standard bridge is cheapest. You really don't have many chances to be creative with overpasses. There's usually nothing exciting about them."
This is different, he said, while scrolling through photos on his computer of the newly erected grand arches against a backdrop of blue sky over the river.
Unscheduled delays
The county's contract with Johnson Brothers requires the company to finish the project within the pre-determined deadline or pay the county a penalty for each day it's late. However, that schedule doesn't take into account holidays, or other scenarios for which delays are allowed. Last Friday was an example of one of those delays.
Normally, on a weekday morning, the sounds of the sprawling construction zone can be heard along nearby Beach Street, seemingly shaking the bleachers of Jackie Robinson Ballpark or rattling books on the shelves of City Island Library. But on this day, that cacophony was replaced with sirens and the snapping and popping of an angry blaze. A large fire, at a building on Orange Avenue, halted construction.
That's a rare example, said Kasbeer. Typically weather is to blame. Construction ceased for weeks before and after Hurricane Irma and Matthew blew up Volusia County's coast. When the winds died, the flood waters receded, and work resumed, men wearing hard hats found they had to completely rebuild some of the vital elements. Add more time to the schedule.
"It's a complicated bridge with a lot of working parts in a tight area," Kasbeer said. "A lot of people think that if you're behind you can just put more manpower on it. In a case like this when you're constrained, and with that type of bridge we are talking about, you can't always do something like that. If there's something that causes a delay, there's really no way to make it up."
With all the activity happening along the Beach Street corridor — the future arrival of Brown & Brown headquarters, a new riverside park and possibly a streetscape makeover — Kasbeer said he's excited about what the Tom Staed Veterans Memorial Bridge will bring to the area.
"I always appreciate when you get to work on a project that's not just your run-of-the-mill plan; this is something that's going to be seen by people," Kasbeer said. "We are excited and we believe it will contribute to the rehabilitation of that area. It will be even more exciting once it gets a little bit closer."
Sheridan is eager for that day. For years, the Orange Avenue drawbridge was his preferred route to the "World's Most Famous Beach."
"I’m sure it will be nice when it’s done," he said.
What else would you like to know?
Ask us anything you like below (if you don't see the forms, visit news-journalonline.com/curious-coast). Then vote in our weekly poll for the question that interests you the most, and we'll be back with the next answer.
A look at the massive materials required to build the Orange Avenue bridge:
3 million: pounds of steel
13,000: cubic yards of concrete, enough to cover 130 football fields
90 feet: height of bridge at its highest point
$38 million: cost of bridge, a combination of local, state and federal funds
7: archways on bridge