Fuller Warren Bridge

Fuller Warren Bridge (new)
Coordinates	30.315°N 81.67166667°W / 30.315; -81.67166667
Carries	Eight lanes of I-95
Crosses	St. Johns River
Locale	Jacksonville, Florida
Official name	Fuller Warren Bridge
Maintained by	Florida Department of Transportation
ID number	720156
Characteristics
Design	Prestressed concrete girder bridge
Total length	7,500 feet (2,286.0 m)
Width	Eight general purpose lanes Three auxiliary lanes Shared-use path
Longest span	250 feet (76.2 m)
Clearance above	Unlimited
Clearance below	75 feet (22.9 m)
History
Opened	April 16, 2000 (2000-04-16) (Partially completed for I-10 Eastbound to I-95 Southbound traffic) November 17, 2002 (2002-11-17) (All lanes opened)
Location

Fuller Warren Bridge (old)
The Fuller Warren bascule bridge in 1954.
Coordinates	30.315°N 81.67166667°W / 30.315; -81.67166667
Carries	four general purpose lanes
Crosses	St. Johns River
Locale	Jacksonville, Florida
Official name	Fuller Warren Bridge
Maintained by	Florida Department of Transportation
ID number	720156
Characteristics
Design	steel bascule bridge
Total length	111.77 meters (367 ft)
Width	18.8 meters (62 ft)
Longest span	81.4 meters (267 ft)
Clearance above	Unlimited
Clearance below	13.4 meters (44 ft) closed
History
Opened	June 7, 1954
Closed	November 17, 2002
Location

The Fuller Warren Bridge is the prestressed-concrete girder bridge that carries Interstate 95 (I-95) across the St. Johns River in Jacksonville, Florida. The current structure was finished in October 2002, replacing the original bascule-bridge span, finished in 1954.

The current bridge was designed by HNTB Corporation in 1990 and built by Balfour Beatty Construction. It is over 7,500 ft (2,286 m) long, with a main span of 250 feet (76 m), and a vertical clearance of 75 ft (23 m). When completed in 2000, it carried eight lanes across the span.

In the spring of 2018, a construction project began to add two more lanes and a shared-use path to the bridge which was completed in spring 2023.

The eastern end of the transcontinental Interstate 10 (I-10) meets I-95 just west of the bridge.

Naming

The bridge is named after former Florida governor Fuller Warren, former member and eventual denouncer of the KKK, who held the office from 1949 to 1953. He was a member of the Jacksonville City Council from 1931 to 1937.

Original bridge

The original bascule bridge was tolled until 1988, when the city of Jacksonville abolished toll collections. Increasing wear from heavy traffic, including a 1993 incident in which a 3 square feet (0.28 m²) fragment of concrete broke loose, forced officials to ban large trucks from the bridge in 1998. It was permanently closed June 13, 2001, when all traffic was moved to the new Fuller Warren Bridge. After delays in removal because of legal and environmental concerns, the Florida Department of Transportation used explosives to complete demolition of the old bridge on February 17, 2007.

Switch to new bridge

Conversion from the old Fuller Warren Bridge to the new one began with one lane of southbound I-95 traffic on April 16, 2000. The new bridge, built at a cost of approximately $100 million, was opened to all eight lanes in late 2002 and formally dedicated on January 13, 2003.

Fuller Warren Expansion Project (2017)

About 2013, The Florida State Department of Transportation (FDOT) began the Your10&95 project to add operational improvements and enhancements to the I-10, I-95 highway interchange in metro Jacksonville. A planning department held several public meetings to discuss the proposed project and the cost of its construction with residents, community partners and businesses. They also asked for input from the public attendees. The meetings were held on February 10, 2014, on August 28, 2014, and on February 26, 2015. During those meetings, it was suggested that as part of the widening project to add two additional traffic lanes to the Fuller Warren bridge, a pedestrian shared use path should be added as well. The proposed path over the St. Johns River would connect the Riverside and Avondale historic neighborhood with the San Marco historic neighborhood. As the current bridge provides for no pedestrian or bicycle access, the FDOT agreed to implement the shared use path suggestion, as well as a number of other requests, such as adding traffic noise barriers for residents. The project also includes improvements to the I-10 ramps at Stockton and Irene streets. Construction began May 5, 2017 and was expected to be completed in the summer of 2020. See Shared Use Path (SUP) renderings Archived 2018-07-17 at the Wayback Machine. On the morning of October 4, 2018, a fatal accident involving one of the construction workers caused a temporary suspension of the work. By March, 2019 the project was near half way construction. On April 6, 2023, the shared use path across the St Johns river finally opened.

Gallery

• 
  Shared use path view from the top of the Fuller Warren Bridge looking west toward Riverside
• 
  Fuller-Warren Shared Use Path Concrete Supports (July 2018)

See also

• Transport portal
• Engineering portal
• Florida portal
• List of crossings of the St. Johns River

External links

• Media related to Fuller Warren Bridge at Wikimedia Commons
• "FDOT Structures Design Office - Fuller Warren Bridge". Archived from the original on 2005-12-14. Retrieved 2006-05-26.