Vehicle Damaged After Metal Joint Separates On Quintette Bridge; Here’s The Plan To Fix It

July 29, 2019

A vehicle was  damaged when a piece of metal on the Quintette Road bridge across the Escambia River popped up into a travel lane Monday.

An expansion joint — the piece of metal between concrete sections of the bridge — was seen in photographs protruding over a foot into the air in a westbound travel lane. The metal was reportedly struck by multiple vehicles, but the Florida Highway Patrol said only one was damaged.

“Metal from the expansion joint was protruding above the surface of the roadway and the vehicle suffered damage to the front and undercarriage from the protruding metal,” Lt. Robert Cannon of the FHP said.

Repair Plan

Maintenance of the bridge is Escambia County’s responsibility, according to Escambia County Public Works Director and Engineer Joy Jones. She said repairs will be made between 9 p.m. Tuesday and 6 a.m. Wednesday, and those repairs will require temporary lane closures and traffic shifts.

In the meantime, Jones said drivers should slow down and watch for signage as the speed limits drops to 5 mph at the bridge joint.

“There’s a bit of a bump there, so we are asking drivers to slow down and obey the speed limit reductions,” Jones said.

Ian Satter, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Transportation, said the bridge remains structurally sound and the incident will not prompt a bridge inspection.

“It’s not a structural issue, and the bridge will remain on its same inspection schedule,” Satter told NorthEscambia.com.

NorthEscambia.com photos by Kristi Barbour, click to enlarge.

Comments

15 Responses to “Vehicle Damaged After Metal Joint Separates On Quintette Bridge; Here’s The Plan To Fix It”

  1. Tim wheeler on August 2nd, 2019 11:49 am

    Need to look at concrete there chucks falling off it , over year old.

  2. Lighthorse on August 1st, 2019 9:23 am

    I called DOT Monday morning around 8:00 &asked who was responsible for Quintette Rd .I reported the bad expansion joint it was sticking up about 3 inches at the time. Hate someone damaged their vehicle before it was repaired. Could have been worse

  3. Thankful on July 30th, 2019 2:08 pm

    Very thankful no one was hurt. I’ve always heard this is one of the most unsafest bridges in the State of Florida, structurally. This has been YEARS ago. Does ANYONE know the last time this bridge had any work done? Time to start holding our officials accountable! We go to work & have to do OUR job, they are NO better than we are! No money? We say, FIND IT! Not our problem you wasted it on x, y & z!

    Thanks Beulah Gal for the Info. They really need to make this info more public.

  4. ekg on July 30th, 2019 9:27 am

    I’ve driven over that bridge thousands of times going toward Pace…..but after the first time I came back and heard that noise in the lane I was in coming back, I made sure I was able to avoid it by swinging to the left and around it…..most of the times… but if a car was coming, I super slowed down and easily crossed over it without the clattering noise….Probably made those behind me angry….sorry about that.

  5. Rod on July 29th, 2019 10:08 pm

    This piece of metal has been making noise on that bridge since I was kid. I’m 36 now so…. useally takes something to happen before things are fixed.

  6. Sherry M. on July 29th, 2019 8:18 pm

    It’s been making a loud popping noise for the longest now, I know 2 years plus! I’m just wondering when they’re gonna do maintenance to the whole Bridge? .. I was raised up in Cottage Hill & my daddy would fish that river several times a week & he’s been passed away since 1992 & still nothing has been done. It’s getting scary going back & forth from Pace to Cottage Hill over that thing . Hopefully something will get done soon before something really bad happens.
    Sherry M.

  7. Me on July 29th, 2019 7:49 pm

    Been noticing it for MONTHS now! Drive over it twice a day and yes, IT WILL SCARE THE CRAP OUT OF YOU! No speeding necessary! Uncalled for! I hope they can repair it so it doesn’t make such a loud noise.
    Glad no one was hurt and I hope the county takes care of repairing the vehicle damages.

  8. Guyinvan on July 29th, 2019 7:47 pm

    Okay, it was me that hit the metal and damaged my work van. It was loud and scared me. Anyway, I would like to say that at least a dozen people stopped to ask if I was okay. Also, the first responders were fast and professional. Extra thank you to Officer Ramirez with the FHP!
    I apologize if I made anyone late!!!

  9. John Kellum on July 29th, 2019 7:34 pm

    This has been like this for years. Theye wait until a vehicle gets damaged before they address the problem? Sounds like someone needs to fired.

  10. Charlie on July 29th, 2019 7:01 pm

    So hundreds, if not more, noticed/heard something wrong for weeks or more, but did not report it to law enforcement or highway department?

  11. Beulah Gal on July 29th, 2019 5:33 pm

    If you notice a road problem, you don’t have to wait for someone else to notice and report it. You can report it yourself:

    https://myescambia.com/our-services/publicworks/road-issues

    Click on “Click here to report a road issue.”

    I have used this several times to report damaged signs and potholes and the problem is usually fixed within 48 hours.

  12. Walker on July 29th, 2019 3:46 pm

    I was wondering what that terrifying noise was when I drove over it on the 19th of this month. :-/ They need to fix that.

  13. GMC on July 29th, 2019 3:18 pm

    yesterday with the window down I nearly jumped out of the truck…..it was beyond obvious. Surely someone from the DOT or LEO had noticed it previously

  14. Goodforall on July 29th, 2019 3:11 pm

    That bridge joint has been popping for over a year, making a hellacious noise each time you run over it. Ot should have been caught on the last inspection. But in reality, it probably was never inspected. The inspectors would have heard that loud noise as people were driving over the bridge. Maybe they should look no further than the bridge inspectors!

  15. Let it be on July 29th, 2019 3:10 pm

    U could hear it pop every time you drove over it.. noise would scare you to death.. going on over 2wks..

Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News