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Mathews Bridge repairs to last over one month, cost nearly $3 million in total

The Florida Department of Transportation hopes to have the Mathews Bridge back up and running within the month.

FDOT Secretary Ananth Prasad outlined the newly defined timeframe and cost today.  He says three contractors have submitted bids to repair the bridge, which currently has “no load bearing capacity” because of damage done when a ship was towed in to the main span.

The apparent low bid at this time is a 40 day contract which costs $1.07 million. If the repairs are done in 30 days, there is a $50,000/day bonus available for the remaining ten days of the contract.  Prasad says it will take at least two weeks just to do preliminary maintenance that will allow the construction crews and vehicles on to the bridge.

Additional costs associated with the repairs include $500,000 for traffic pattern construction and $800,000 in inspections. Prasad says they aim to recover all these costs, totaling around $2.87 million, from the insurer responsible for the vessel.

Representative Lake Ray tells WOKV news he's pleased about the repairs and he's hoping they will be completed by October 30th.

"It's very important that this work gets done expeditiously."

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