Causeway

In recent years, the north arm was causing the salinity level of the south arm to increase. This increase poses an environmental threat to the brine shrimp in the south arm and the migratory birds that feed off the shrimp. Engineers from the Division of Water Resources prepared a design to raise the berm in the bottom of the causeway breach by four feet. This would reduce the mixing of the north and south arms. The berm was constructed at the end of July.

Causeway

Southern Pacific built the causeway in 1902 as an alternate route to the original rail line laid through the Promontory Mountains north of the lake. In 1959, the 12-mile wooden bridge section was replaced with the current rock-filled causeway, which included two culverts that allowed water to flow freely. Due to the slow settling of the causeway into the lake bed, the culverts eventually sank low enough that they had to be abandoned and filled in, which slowed the water flow between the two arms. In 2016, the causeway was breached to restore the flow between the north and south arms, and to improve rescue boat access to the north arm.

The Courtney Campbell Scenic Highway and Trail are symbols of the collaboration of local, regional and state governmental agencies, public- and private-sector partners. Hundreds daily enjoy the beaches, boat launch, vistas and fishing opportunities along this 9.5-mile causeway across Old Tampa Bay. Over 50,000 cars per day traverse the causeway, and the newly opened Trail is a fantastic recreational opportunity for walkers, bicyclists, runners, bird-watchers and all who want to enjoy the peaceful water and wildlife views of Tampa Bay.

When the Courtney Campbell Causeway was constructed, it was one of the longest over-water fill causeways in the country. The water quality in the waters north of the Causeway have long been a concern due to the decreased circulation. In 2018, the Department of Transportation finished construction of a 230 foot section of bridge, allowing a direct tidal connection to this section of Old Tampa Bay for the first time in more than 80 years.

The TBRPC has delegated the programmatic initiatives for the causeway to a Corridor Advisory Committee (CAC) with representatives from all local government and planning agencies that touch the highway. While the TBRPC provides staff support to the CAC, this assistance is limited to administrative support. The work of the CAC is primarily done via its alliance of volunteers representing businesses, government groups, and citizens.

CHL engineers developed the LMCS concept to upgrade and replace existing systems, merging ideas from both conventional floating causeways and modern tactical bridges. They designed and built the LMCS with many critical core technological advancements:

In June 2008 at Fort Eustis, Virginia and in September 2008 at Oahu, Hawaii, engineers conducted demonstrations which featured the use of LMCS as a shore-based floating causeway to enable Roll On/Roll Off logistics operations. A Logistics Supply Vessel was used as the marine platform, and the LMCS successfully supported traffic by both military and commercial vehicles. The versatility of the LMCS was also shown at a protected bare beach site at Fort Eustis. By partially deflating some of the pneumatic tubes on the shoreward side of the LMCS, the small deployment crew was able to increase the penetration of the causeway onto the shore. This capability also allows the LMCS to conform to existing bottom slope on the beach and limits extensive beach or shore preparation requirements.

Causeway is a product of VTM Web Services, a division of VTM Group. VTM is a leading provider of association management services to organizations of all types. Contact us at 503.619.0853 or inquire@causewaynow.com.

On October 4, Governor DeSantis directed FDOT to prioritize repairs to the Sanibel Causeway with an estimated completion date by the end of October. On October 11, the Governor announced that due to steady progress on repairs to the causeway, a one-time convoy of more than 350 vehicles for utility restoration would be able to safely cross the bridge onto Sanibel Island.

Damage from Hurricane Ian prevented vehicles from being able to cross the 3-mile-long bridge, delaying the delivery of needed services and supplies to the hard-hit Sanibel community. Crews worked around the clock to restore drivable access for the over 6,000 residents of Sanibel Island. With the completion of the temporary emergency repairs to the Sanibel Causeway, FDOT will now work with Lee County on plans for permanent repairs on the causeway.

The rest of the causeway, including the elimination of the the two drawbridges, at the Ocean City and Somers Point limits and the elimination of the Somers Point Circle will take place along with improvements to MacArthur Boulevard.

Wabasso Causeway Park is located at 3105 Wabasso Beach Road (CR 510). It consists of four lobes along the causeway. Features include a boat launch (south-east lobe), restroom facilities (south-east lobe), picnic tables, covered pavilions, grills, plenty of shoreline for fishing and canoe launching/sunbathing beaches.

This project was final accepted on July 3, 2019.To improve the water circulation and quality in Old Tampa Bay and restore tidal flows to the northeast portion of the Bay, the Florida Department of Transportation constructed a new bridge on SR 60 (Courtney Campbell Causeway), west of Ben T. Davis Beach. No bridge previously existed in this section of the causeway. The design portion of this design-build project began in October 2017 and construction began in January 2018. SR 60 and the pedestrian/bicycle trail remained open for use during construction.

In this aerial photo made in a flight provided by mediccorps.org, damage from Hurricane Ian is seen on the causeway leading to Sanibel Island from Fort Myers, Fla., on Sept. 30. The causeway has reopened with temporary repairs. Gerald Herbert/AP hide caption

The 3-mile causeway was badly damaged by the Category 4 hurricane, with initial predictions that repairs could take months. Instead, the span reopened just three weeks after the storm blew ashore Sept. 28.

The governor's office said 100 crews worked around the clock to repair the causeway, which includes three separate bridges. Workers used 8,200 loads of fill dirt, 2,400 loads of rock, and 4,000 tons of asphalt.

The Florida Department of Transportation will continue to work on a permanent fix for the causeway, officials said. Power restoration, debris removal and other recovery efforts will be much easier with the temporary causeway repairs, they said. 041b061a72