In this aerial view, crews with Orion Marine Construction work to complete the westbound span of the Indian River Bridge, while daily traffic moves along the upgraded eastbound lanes of the bridge leading to NASA’s Kennedy Space Center in Florida on Monday, Nov. 27, 2023. The bridge crosses the Indian River Lagoon and connects Kennedy and the Cape Canaveral Space Force Station to the mainland via State Road 405/NASA Causeway in nearby Titusville. The new high-rise bridge serves as the primary entrance and exit to the space center for employees and visitors.
“This is the first partnered infrastructure project of its kind at Kennedy – the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has historically designed and built the bridges serving the spaceport, and NASA operated and maintained them since the original construction of the spaceport about 60 years ago,” said Justin Ausanka, senior project manager, Experimental Facilities Development at Kennedy. “With this project, we are taking advantage of the expertise and experience of the Florida Department of Transportation to most efficiently build, operate, and maintain the future bridges as part of the state highway system. In turn, NASA can continue to focus on our core competencies and our vision of igniting space exploration and discovery for all.”
The new bridge spans replace a pair of two-lane drawbridges built in the mid-1960s to support NASA’s Apollo program. The first of the two new spans opened to the public ahead of schedule on June 9, 2023. In development for well over a decade, the load capacity, width, and grade of the bridge were designed to support the largest future payloads and vehicles at the spaceport while simultaneously supporting increased public traffic to and from Kennedy.
Photo credit: NASA/Jamie Peer