Georgia Department of Transportation (DOT) is conducting a public survey this month on its plans for major maintenance of the US 17/SR 404 Spur Bridge.
The bridge was designed and built in the late 1980s and opened to traffic in 1991. Planned maintenance work includes replacing the cables, bridge bearings and joints.
Georgia DOT said that that the bridge’s current 56.4m clearance limits efficient access to the Port of Savannah for larger ships and that the challenge will be magnified in the coming decades as larger ships become increasingly common.
The project will explore shortening the cables to reprofile the existing bridge to obtain a higher vertical clearance, which would improve navigation within the Savannah River shipping channel. The reprofiling of the deck will also extend the life of the bridge, said Georgia DOT.
It added that it will leverage qualified industry expertise and alternative delivery methods to accelerate the replacement of the cables, bearings and joints to meet the economic need of the growing Port of Savannah.
Preliminary design and environmental studies will begin this year. The plan is for the US 17/SR 404 Spur Bridge to remain open to traffic during construction, though lane closures are anticipated.
