Disaster diverted: Florida causeway restoration reaches major completion

A renewed section of the Sanibel Causeway located offshore of Florida, US. Image: Adobe Stock

The news comes nearly three years after Hurricane Ian (a Category 5 storm) caused catastrophic damage to the three-mi link (part of a larger 12-mi corridor) between Sanibel Island in San Carlos Bay and the Florida, US mainland.

Ian made landfall in September 2022 as a Category 4 storm, washing away large sections of the Sanibel Causeway and severing the only vehicular access to both the Sanibel and Captiva islands. The storm surge undermined roadbeds and collapsed multiple bridge approaches, making full reconstruction necessary to restore safe, permanent access.

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Construction focused on improving long-term storm resilience and included the installation of nearly 750,000 sq ft of steel sheet pile wall systems, more 19,000 linear ft of concrete caps, and nearly 128,000 tons of armour stone. Seawalls were elevated to heights between five and eight ft, and crews installed upgraded drainage infrastructure and a scour-prevention system using gabion marine mattresses and riprap.

During peak construction, multiple specialised crews worked in parallel on pile-driving, earthworks, drainage, concrete, and asphalt, with traffic maintained on the causeway throughout.

The reconstruction was led by a joint venture of US-based firms Superior Construction and de Moya Group under a phased design-build contract (said to be the first of its kind for FDOT).

FDOT expects final paving and landscaping work, including restoration of recreational areas, to be completed by mid-2025.