FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact:            Scott Gilbertson, Lee County Department of Transportation
                         (941) 479-8580

UPDATE #1: HEAVY TRUCKS NOT BEING ALLOWED ON SANIBEL CAUSEWAY

FORT MYERS, Fla. (January 8, 2003) – Upon further consultation with its consulting engineers, URS, Lee County’s Transportation Department is prohibiting all trucks over 10 tons from crossing the Sanibel Causeway until emergency repairs are completed to a cracked beam on the center bridge.

This is in effect IMMEDIATELY.

Any heavy trucks stranded on Sanibel Island will be allowed off the island ONE AT A TIME after all other traffic is cleared.

Flagmen are heading to the Sanibel Causeway now.  A flagman will be stationed on each end of the center bridge and trucks over 10 tons needing to leave the island will have to wait by the flagman until all other traffic both directions is stopped and cleared in order for the truck to cross the center bridge.

Any deliveries to the island must be less than 10 tons to be allowed through.

 Lee DOT hopes immediate repairs can be completed by Friday night at which time trucks over 10 tons would once again be allowed to cross.

 The county – which discovered the cracked beam Monday through routine inspection and repairs and has been monitoring closely since then – is currently lining up a law enforcement agency to enforce the prohibition.

 The beam is one of the concrete girders that hold up the bridge deck.  The county already has reinforced the beam with a steel column, however it also wants to place steel columns at the quarter points of the beam.  Parts are on order right now and depending on availability and shipping schedules, this work could be done by Friday night, however it could take longer.

 After that, as a temporary fix until the bridge is rebuilt (scheduled within five years), the county will place “crutch bents” under the roadway to help reinforce the beams.

 The Transportation Department will issue continuing updates on the status of the repairs.