January 15 marks the 30th anniversary of the catastrophic barge strike that crippled the Pensacola Bay Bridge for 224-days in 1989.

Crews are working to construct the new eastbound (Pensacola to Gulf Breeze) bridge and as much of the westbound (Gulf Breeze to Pensacola) bridge as possible.

Cranes are the “workhorses” of the Pensacola Bay Bridge replacement project. They’re used to load the heavy concrete construction components (e.g., piles, trophy pieces, beams, etc.) onto barges at the Bayou Chico casting yard and to lift them into place once they arrive at the bridge construction site.

The American Automobile Association (AAA) is predicting that more than 51-million Americans will travel the nation’s highways during the upcoming four-day Thanksgiving holiday weekend. If the prediction proves true it would reflect the highest traffic volume in more than a decade.

Construction work on the new Pensacola Bay Bridge was suspended Monday, Oct. 8 due to the approach of Hurricane Michael. Crews began moving water-borne construction equipment to safe harbor and preparing travel lanes for a possible evacuation.