JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — The Hart Bridge is open again in both directions after a crane on a passing barge hit the span Wednesday night and forced a full shutdown of one of the busiest river crossings in Jacksonville, Fla.
The strike happened at about 7:20 p.m. as the barge tried to move beneath the bridge, the Florida Department of Transportation said. Cars and trucks were on the bridge when the crane made contact.
Inspectors reached the scene within 20 minutes and used an under-bridge inspection machine to check the structure. Safety boats, engineers and maintenance crews joined the response, and the Florida Highway Patrol later reported the bridge had reopened. Traffic was moving again within roughly four hours.
State officials have not said which company was moving the barge. The U.S. Coast Guard is handling the incident response on the water.
The steel cantilever truss bridge crosses the St. Johns River and carries U.S. 1 Alternate and State Road 228. The $8.83 million span first carried traffic in 1967. Today it handles an average of 52,000 vehicles a day and connects downtown with the Hart Bridge Expressway toward Beach Boulevard.
The bridge is named for Isaiah Hart, who founded Jacksonville, and its green paint has long made it a familiar sight on the skyline. Its main span is among the longest of any truss bridge in the world, which leaves tall vessels a wide channel, but cargo stacked on a barge deck can still reach the steel overhead.
Drivers heading downtown Thursday morning should find normal lanes on the crossing. Transportation officials have not said whether more inspection work or lane closures will follow, while the Coast Guard works through its review of the barge strike.
Section: More Jacksonville FL crime news
Filed under: Jacksonville FL Traffic News
