FDOT Closes Nokomis Road Bridge Due To Failed Inspection

December 6, 2017

The Florida Department of Transportation has closed Nokomis Road Bridge over Reedy Branch in Nokomis, effective immediately due to a failed inspection. The closure is between Albritton Road and Jakes Road.

No opening date has yet been projected.

The detour from the west is: Nokamis Road to Albritton Road to Jakes Road

The detour from the east is: Jakes Road to Albritton Road to Nokamis Road

Comments

24 Responses to “FDOT Closes Nokomis Road Bridge Due To Failed Inspection”

  1. Citizen on December 7th, 2017 4:38 pm

    A little info about inspections:

    “All bridges that carry public roads and meet the state and federal legal requirements to be defined as a bridge are inspected every two years in Florida either by state forces or by consultants under contract to the Florida Department of Transportation. To meet the legal requirements a bridge must be at least 20 feet in length measured between the faces of the abutments. If a structure does not meet the requirements, or carries a private road, then it is the responsibility of the owner to inspect the structure and there is no legal requirement for the frequency of inspection. The inspection frequency should be determined by engineering judgement of the owner. ”

    FDOT
    Bridge Management Inspection Engineer

    A stitch in time saves nine – Ben Franklin knew that system preservation pays.

  2. DDD on December 7th, 2017 2:27 pm

    Email Mr. Barry:

    Email: district5@myescambia.com

    and CC yourself in the process. You will have that paper trail to fall back on. May not be a quick resolve, but at least you have the proof, more so than a telephone call with a VM that can be easily erased.

  3. safenow on December 7th, 2017 1:44 pm

    I just wanted thank the inspectors that found this issue. We are all complaining about the bridge or the (UNSAFE) bridge that we have all be driving over for years. Finally maybe it will get fixed and we will all be safe again. So THANK YOU to them all our kids are safe. The unsung heroes of the highway.

  4. Citizen on December 7th, 2017 1:26 pm

    @Joan
    I am also trying to learn and pass on info with out being antagonistic, that is the best course of action and it is good to be reminded, sorry if I seemed otherwise, patience is not my virtue.

    So with that I will have to say maybe I wasn’t completely right to correct you but I do believe the County of Escambia has historically has the FDOT inspect the bridges. If you look on their web site on the projects you can see the status and who bid etc. You can even dig around and see the costs and more. It is a wealth of knowledge about Escambia County. Bridges vary. I think here we are mostly talking about the 90 or so wooden bridges over creeks, not the expansive ones. One would hardly know they were there, (unless of course they fail and/ or under construction) just a guardrail and the road seems about the same. Myescambia.com

    You can also go to FDOT website and type things into the search bar. For instance here you can email a person about the inspections.
    http://www.fdot.gov/maintenance/Inspection.shtm

    Learning about the government is a fun and rewarding endeavor, especially with the internet and knowledge is a good thing.

    good luck to you.

  5. Dillweed on December 7th, 2017 1:22 pm

    @A
    No failed means the reflectors are sometimes installed in the wrong direction. Hate for you to crash in your ditch or miss the two boards. If never collapsed with two boards i don’t see how it could be any worse now.

  6. Joan on December 7th, 2017 8:18 am

    @citizen what is incorrect about my previously made comment? The county IS responsible for paying roughly 15-20 percent of the repair/construction COST (if this county operates similarly to others throughout the state.. I assume it does..), and the DOT covers the rest. Same concept applies to all maintenance. Because bridges have the potential to be so dangerous, those responsibilities are generally a state (aka higher degree) function….

    So, again, (and may I emphasize) I’m really not trying to be antagonistic or fight with people on the internet – merely trying to get smarter – what’s incorrect about the previous comment?

  7. Local Resident on December 7th, 2017 7:35 am

    @ Concerned Mr. BARRY want even return phone calls, most of the time it rings and goes to voice mail. He has gotten tires of hearing from the residents about all.the bridge closures.

    If fact I spoke to someone yesterday that was closing the bridge on Nokomis road and suggested he take the detour down Pineville Road, he stated “I have a specific time schedule to keep and can’t use that detour because it would interfere with the schedule”. I am.sorry if DOT can’t use the detour they set up them why should residents be forces to.

  8. Tracy A Smith on December 7th, 2017 5:58 am

    Let’s not forget the school buses that now have to change their whole routes to accommodate these road closures. They now have to notify all the parents about new stop times and try not to be late to schools. Our government doesn’t care about the inconveniences to the people. None of them have to worry about it. If this happened in the Pensacola area, they would be up in arms about it. There are currently 4+ bridges out in the North end. Ridiculous.

  9. A on December 7th, 2017 1:00 am

    When I used to ride Mr Jakes bus across there it was two boards across the ditch.

  10. A on December 7th, 2017 12:56 am

    Im wondering if the “failed inspection” means that there were no approach reflectors of the proper color? or does it mean the bridge is about to collapse? Does anyone know?

  11. Citizen on December 6th, 2017 11:47 pm

    >>>>>>>>>>>>>>> “Florida DOT is who is responsible for maintaining all bridges – they are who procures a contractor to do repairs and they also manage said contractor. The county DOES screw up quite a bit, but this is not their error.”

    No that is incorrect ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

  12. Well on December 6th, 2017 7:38 pm

    @Jacqueline
    I bet you are wise to the system beyond your words.

    You hit the nail pretty squarely but nobody listens.

    Maybe some roundabouts would help.

  13. Joan on December 6th, 2017 6:53 pm

    Florida DOT is who is responsible for maintaining all bridges – they are who procures a contractor to do repairs and they also manage said contractor. The county DOES screw up quite a bit, but this is not their error.

  14. Citizen on December 6th, 2017 5:37 pm

    Did Century ever even get theirs inspected much less make steps to get them repaired?

    Your past article said some had not been inspected in 20 plus years. Is FDOT supposed to inspect those also? Does D5 ensure that they are safe also?

    You have said Hawkins said he would hire a bridge inspector? did they? Or is he “on it” and doing nothing?

    http://www.northescambia.com/2017/02/20-years-overdue-for-inspection-are-the-bridges-in-century-safe

  15. old man on December 6th, 2017 4:50 pm

    suggestion take the 4 cent gas tax that is going to ECAT and repair our roads and bridges

  16. Burnie D. Silcox on December 6th, 2017 4:31 pm

    Big heavy logging trucks & overloaded dump trucks have destroyed Sunshine Hill Rd.I cant check mail for race-cars on our little road.Glad when all this is complete.

  17. Burnie D. Silcox on December 6th, 2017 4:21 pm

    Hwy 182 at Penasula Creek & Sunshine Hill Rd. Twenty Ft. Brisige been closed 11 monrhs & 2 days A crying shame,Now Sunshine Hill Rd to be re-paved & add speed bumps.Speed limit is 35….most go 55 or faster. I know,cause I live here in the center of problem.

  18. Jacqueline on December 6th, 2017 3:58 pm

    What is going on is that over the years we have invested in things OTHER THAN needed infrastructure upgrades and now it is finally coming back to haunt us.

    But we are still spending money on wishful things like some of the Economic Development attempts (Commerce Parks, Tech Park, and now OLF/Future Commerce Park, studies with no real intent to follow them) and funding entities like PEDC (the BCC was considering an add on agenda item about forgiving a $2 million loan for the Tech Park expenditures), Florida West, etc. while not having a plan to save for these known future expenses to upgrade infrastructure, similar to the Bay Center crisis.

    Don’t just look at the current officials because it took a lot of time to get to this point.
    The main duties of government are public safety and infrastructure but if we refuse to fund those adequately, this is what we are left with.

  19. Concerned on December 6th, 2017 2:59 pm

    These bridge closings are causing real safety issues up here. By the time fire trucks or ambulances take the detours, it could be too late. How about we make some repairs to at least get them open to passenger vehicles until we can get some of the major ones under construction now finished? Where is our county commissioner? Is Mr. Barry speaking up for us?

  20. BIG JOHN on December 6th, 2017 2:56 pm

    REMEMBER THE $ .01 CENT TAX THAT WAS TO FIX ALL THE ROADS AND BRIDGES IN THE NORTH END, WEAR IS THAT MONEY TODAY ? GONE TO BE USED SOME PLACE, THAT NOT IN THE NORT END !!!!!!!!!!!!! MAYBE IT TIME THE STATE CHECK IN TO WHAT THE COUNTY IS DOING WITH THAT MONEY !!!!!!!!!!!!

  21. J.Larry Seale on December 6th, 2017 2:00 pm

    where is our “gas tax” money going……….

    JLSeale

  22. Tom on December 6th, 2017 1:42 pm

    So our bridges are very old and in neglect? If there is just not enough money available to do the work either find it or race taxes that seems obvious. The roads up here are looking and driving rough too, have tax cuts finally bit us in the butts?

  23. NWFLAFOB on December 6th, 2017 9:39 am

    What the Sam Hill is going on up here?!

  24. Oversight on December 6th, 2017 9:02 am

    The county needs to get off its donkey and get ahead of the state’s inspection team with all of these bridge issues. Is there even one bridge in the north end of the county that is being upgraded or repaired without FDOT forcing the issue?