If you watched the MPO (Metropolitan Planning Organization) meeting on the government channel (97) Friday, February 13, 2009 at 10 am:
Citizens Transportation Coalition formally objected to the inclusion of the S.S. Jolley Bridge replacement project on the list of Federal Stimulus qualified projects for Collier County.
Our position is two-fold:
1)  The bridge has a realistic life of 20 to 40 years.
2)  The traffic on the bridge seldom reaches capacity.
The source of information to form our position is listed below. 

Found at:  www.CollierCountyMPO.com   click Public Documents  Scroll down to 19-May-2008 S.S. Jolley Bridge: Toll Feasibility Study Draft Final Report

(Excerpt From Cambridge Systematics report of May 2007 Pages 4-2 and 4-3)

2005 Inspection Report

The inspection report dated October 25, 2005(5) indicates that the bridge has a sufficiency rating of 81.0 with the deck and superstructure in satisfactory condition and substructure in good condition. Bridges are ranked on a scale of 0 to 100. This is cumulative scoring of various structure components such as: Deck, Superstructure, Substructure, Channel, Culvert, and others. It is not classified structurally deficient nor is it restricted to vehicles under a specified weight limit.

Areas of concern with maintaining the existing structure raised by PBSJ include:  

• Studies of the scour characteristics indicated that the existing bridge is scourcritical and would be unstable during the design storm event due to lack of pile embedding beneath the scourable material at several of the piers. Scour is the hole left behind when sediment (sand and rocks) is washed away from the bottom of a river. Although scour may occur at any time, scour action is especially strong during floods. Swiftly flowing water has more energy than calm water to lift and carry sediment down river. Based on these findings, FDOT carried out scour countermeasures at the piers that were in the worst condition. FDOT will need to confirm during the 2007 Biannual inspection that all problem piers are protected and scour countermeasures are monitored and maintained after storm events and as part of routine inspections.

• Corrosion inspection and tests determined the need for cathodic protection jackets for several pile bents and cast-in-place footers, as well as anticipating the need for cathodic protection for the remaining footers within 10 years. Cathodic protection jackets help prevent corrosion. This will also require periodic monitoring and maintenance.

• The bridge received a satisfactory rating, which is lower than a good rating for superstructure. This is primarily attributed to corrosion of steel girders and accessories. Loss of this section could potentially lead to capacity deficiencies from weight limitations or closing of travel lanes, and need for additional inspections and maintenance.

• In case a closure of the structure is required for any period of time, the alternate route is the Goodland Bridge (Bridge No. 030184) which has a low sufficiency rating of 45.4. This bridge is currently carrying very low volume of traffic and may not be suited to handle Jolley Bridge volumes. 5 Bridge Maintenance System Inspection Report dated 10/25/2005 by Volkert & Associates, Inc for FDOT District 1 Bartow.

(5) Bridge Maintenance System Inspection Report dated 10/25/2005 by Volkert & Associates, Inc for FDOT District 1 Bartow.

FDOT’s assessment(6) is that the bridge overall is in good physical condition and, with common routine maintenance, can be expected to function safely for another 20 years. With more substantial efforts, its durability may extend to 40 years.

2007 Inspection Report

In the process of updating this report from interim to final, the latest Jolley Bridge inspection report was obtained(7) and compared against the previous inspection report. The new inspection report is dated April 26, 2007. The overall ratings are as follows:

• Deck: 6 – Satisfactory. No change from previous inspection report;

• Superstructure: 5 – Fair. Lower rating from previous inspection report;

• Substructure: 6 – Satisfactory. Lower rating from previous inspection report;

• Channel: 7 – Minor Damage. No change from previous inspection report; and

• Sufficiency Rating: 70.0 – Lower rating from 81.0 in previous inspection report.

Reasons for Lower Rating:

• Superstructure: Further and more severe corrosion of steel members and deterioration of concrete members.

• Substructure: Further deterioration of pile caps and footings and more of them having deterioration, though pile jackets are now installed to repair previously reported damage.

• Sufficiency: Due to combination of the above, the rating has been reduced to 70.0 from 81.0.

Other Key Finding

• Scour: Protection (armor mat) has been installed on Bents 9, 10 and 11 to remedy special inspection (10/25/05) reported damage.

6 District Secretary’s letter to City of Marco Island dated April 4, 2005.

7 Bridge Inspection Report dated 04/26/2007 by Volkert & Associates, Inc for FDOT District 1.

          The following charts are from Pages 2.18 and 2.19 respectively
                             These charts address th capacity issue