Evans Crary Sr. Bridge is a road bridge, box girder bridge, and prestressed concrete bridge that was begun in 1998. The project is located in Stuart, Martin County, Florida, USA. A balanced cantilever design was revised to a span-by-span segmental design with near-record spans of 180 feet for the Evans Crary Bridge crossing Florida’s St. Lucie River.
FTBA Winner for Best in Construction, Major Bridge, this twin, precast segmental bridge project for the Florida Department of Transportation is 3,000 feet in length and spans 65 feet above the St. Lucie River in Stuart, Florida. The new high-level fixed span bridge replaced the existing low-level Bascule Bridge that had become structurally deficient. With 17 separate, 180-foot spans erected in the span-by-span erection method, the project set a record for the longest bridge in the western hemisphere to be built using this technique. The project won the 1999 National Value Engineering Award for the most innovative proposal during construction.
The bridge’s twin, precast segmental structures are 15.044 meters wide, 909 meters long, and are separated by a 450-mm gap. Rising at a vertical grade of 5.2%, the bridge provides a 19.885-meter vertical and 27.440-meter horizontal clearance over the St. Lucie River. It is continuous from end to end with no intermediate expansion joints. The box girder is a constant 2.45 meters deep. The center foundations were designed for a 9,700 KN ship impact load, using a common footing for both structures where the ship impact load is applied. The piers are cast-in-place with a flared top.
