Howard Frankland Bridge project continues to progress, expected to bring major traffic changes
TAMPA, Fla. - The new Howard Frankland Bridge is a little more than halfway done, and the Florida Department of Transportation's largest in the Tampa Bay area will bring major changes to travel across the bay.
The $865.3 million project from FDOT has progressed much over the last year.
"The biggest difference that people will see in the last year is that it’s really starting to look like a bridge," said Greg Deese, an FDOT project manager. "We also accomplished a traffic shift on the Pinellas side. We have moved traffic to the outside, so we can start building the interior parts of where the express lanes go."
Deese updated FOX 13 on the progress of the Howard Frankland Bridge project at the end of 2022 and shared with us how far it’s come along at the end of 2023.
"We’re going to be finishing all of our piles this year," said Deese, which he explains are part of the substructure to support the bridge.
FDOT started the project in 2020.
"The number of barges and cranes, we’ve really peaked. [There are] nearly 30 cranes and over 60 barges that we have out here," he said.
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It takes a massive effort to build out the project's 5.8 miles between Hillsborough and Pinellas counties, according to an FDOT spokesperson and the project manager.
"As far as staff, we’re still nearing 300 people working on the job and then several dozen more working off site creating the concrete beams, the piles and what not," said Deese.
He said the crews are getting better and more efficient as they go as they complete sections repeatedly for miles. There are 3,006 piles being driven into the bay, more than 1,700 beams, and workers are pouring 172,000+ cubic yards of concrete.
Drivers will cross a bridge better made to weather hurricanes, with added rock behind the bridge’s walls.
"You saw what happened in Sanibel, our bridges and causeways are vulnerable," said Deese. "So, we’re incorporating some features into this bridge that will make it more resilient in the face of storm surge."
The bridge will also use rebar made from fiberglass to fight corrosion.
"Those will be some of the first time in the state we’ve seen that," said Deese. "We want to raise our bridges to the point where they won’t be affected by wave action during a hurricane and that will ensure they will remain passable after a storm passes through."
Once complete, the new bridge will carry southbound traffic including express lanes and a pedestrian path. Then the bridge next to it will switch to northbound traffic, and FDOT will remove the farthest bridge.
"The department’s been really pleased with the progress on this project given the scope of it. The contractor remains on schedule, and we are anticipating switching traffic onto the new bridge by the end of 2024. So we’re doing really well," said Deese.
He also said workers are also preparing the bridge to be able to carry light rail in case it ever becomes an option in the future. FDOT expects the project to wrap up by the end of 2025.