Construction of the new Brooks Bridge is now expected to wrap up in early 2029, roughly a year later than the timeline presented two years ago, the project’s construction engineering inspection lead told the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce board last week.

• Westbound traffic is scheduled to move from the existing bridge to the new structure in September or October, with eastbound traffic following six to eight weeks later. All traffic should be on the new bridge by the end of the year, clearing the way for demolition of the existing Brooks Bridge to begin in early January.

Ed Hudec, who oversees construction engineering inspection for the Florida Department of Transportation on the project, gave the update during the Chamber’s board meeting. The $171 million design-build contract was awarded to Superior Construction, with WSP serving as the bridge designer. Demolition work to prepare the site began in 2022, and preliminary construction started in 2023.

Hudec said the project has moved from 1,810 original contract days to 2,109, a slip of nearly 300 days. Of those, 246 were holiday and weather days that were not credited in the original contract, he said. The remaining days came from a small number of change orders. He added that the schedule shows late 2028 internally, but FDOT is presenting an early 2029 completion to account for additional holidays and weather between now and then.

The new bridge will replace a structure that Hudec said is the lowest bridge on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway between Fort Walton Beach and New Orleans. The current span runs 1,318 feet with 50 feet of vertical clearance and 140 feet of horizontal clearance at the main channel. The replacement will be 2,111 feet long, with 65 feet of vertical clearance and 150 feet of horizontal clearance.

The project includes two separate bridges, each about 65 feet wide, separated by 10 feet. Each will carry three 11-foot travel lanes with 10-foot inside and outside shoulders, along with a 12-foot shared-use path featuring sun shade structures, benches and walkouts with pictorials about local sea life. Aesthetic lighting on the bridge will be calibrated to avoid disturbing sea turtle nesting areas.

Because of the post-tensioning method used in construction, the new bridge is rated as a Class 2 bridge with an estimated 75-year life span, compared with 50 years for a standard bridge.

• “What you really got is a simplified suspension bridge, in effect,” Hudec said, comparing the design to the Golden Gate Bridge. He said the post-tensioning reduces vibration on the substructure over time, adding about 25 years to the typical life of a bridge.

Crews have driven 174 of the 348 piles needed for the bridge, with the remaining piles to be installed after demolition of the existing structure. Girders on the westbound bridge have been set, and post-tensioning is underway. A deck pour on span two from the Fort Walton Beach side took place last Tuesday night, with four spans remaining. Roadwork is between 70% and 75% complete.

Channel closures required to set the main channel girders were completed at night using ringer cranes brought in by barge from Boh Brothers in New Orleans. The girder placement finished in a month, ahead of schedule, Hudec said.

Demolition of the existing bridge is expected to take six to nine months and will involve saw-cutting the structure into pieces that will be barged upriver, while foundation work continues on the eastbound span of the new bridge.

• Six federally protected species fall within the project limits, including the bald eagle, Gulf sturgeon, sea turtle, smalltooth sawfish and West Indian manatee. Sightings are reported to environmental agencies weekly, Hudec said.

Ted Corcoran, CEO of the Greater Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce, opened the meeting with a history of the bridge replacement effort. He said FDOT first warned the city in the 1980s that the bridge was nearing the end of its 50-year design life. State Sen. Vince Bruner established the Fort Walton Beach Bridge Authority in 1992, but no replacement decisions were made at that time.

In 2005, the Emerald Coast Bridge Authority, chaired by Magnolia Grill owner Tom Rice, presented three options to the Fort Walton Beach City Council: extending Hollywood Boulevard across to Okaloosa Island, routing traffic across Wright Parkway to Okaloosa Island, or replacing the bridge in place. The council rejected all three, Corcoran said.

• The effort regained momentum in March 2013, when a barge with a raised ladder struck the bridge. Later that year, then-State Sen. Don Gaetz committed to funding a $300,000 study following a Chamber meeting on the bridge’s future. Ten years later, the project began.

“Our community has anticipated a new bridge for 40 years,” Corcoran said. “To now know that it will be totally completed in less than three years is fantastic.”

The first section, expected to open in six months, will bypass the Santa Rosa Boulevard traffic light and provide an early indication of how the new bridge will move traffic through town, Corcoran added.

He said watching the construction has been fascinating and less challenging than he had anticipated. Corcoran thanked FDOT, Superior Construction and the other agencies associated with the project.

“I can’t wait to drive over the new bridge.”