17th Street Causeway Project Details
By admin | August 22, 2007

The new 17th street causeway bridge is a variable depth segmental structure which is constructed by balanced cantilever and progressive cantilever method. In the center of the bridge, the counterweight for the bascule is housed inside of a unique Carina Pier.
Traylor Bros. was contracted by the Florida Department of Transportation to construct a mid-level bascule bridge over the Intracoastal Waterway on the 17th Street Causeway in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. This bridge is 1,908 feet long with dual 53.5 foot wide roadways, and provide a 125 ft wide by 55 ft vertical clearance at the waterway when closed. Vertical clearance, when the span opens, will be unlimited. The bridge consists of nine approach spans of precast segmental superstructure on C.I.P. piers and drilled shaft foundations, and a twin-leaf bascule span of 242 ft. The structural steel bascule spans rest on Y-legged “carina” piers of post-tensioned, C.I.P. concrete, on drilled shaft/cofferdam foundations.
During my time with Traylor Bros. I was in charge of building the carina (bascule) piers which constisted from the coffer dams, seal slabs, and a total of 18 pours per x4. The piers were a first of its kind, between all the radius and angles, it just made the formwork that much harder.
The installation of the falsework alone was quite a task. It included 24′ pipe pile and numerous sizes of beams to create a platform at elev. 10m in order to shore from.
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My name is Michael Miguel. I have been in the construc-