Thank you for supporting our journalism. This article is available exclusively for our subscribers, who help fund our work at the Sun Sentinel.
DELRAY BEACH — It’s been more than two weeks since the drawbridge on George Bush Boulevard in Delray Beach got stuck in the upright position — and it will be at least another six weeks before it’s working again.
A malfunction happened about 9:30 p.m. March 3 when the bridge opened for boat traffic and then became stuck. Engineers identified damage to the main shaft and the gear machinery as the cause of the problem. The bridge is located between Southeast 15th Street and Atlantic Avenue.
Since then, the bridge has remained in the upright position, forcing drivers to find alternate routes from the mainland over the Intracoastal to the beach. Traffic has been detoured via Northeast Fifth Avenue/Northeast Sixth Avenue, Atlantic Avenue and North Ocean Boulevard.
The Palm Beach County Road and Bridge department and the Florida Transportation are working to repair the machinery. Engineers built a new shaft on March 11 to replace the damaged one, which sheared in two places. A subsequent investigation found they needed to replace the machinery parts for the bridge.
The county says it’s expected to take approximately six weeks, and potentially longer, to build a new replacement bearing.
The bridge will remain open to boat traffic and closed to cars.
The George Bush bridge in Delray Beach is stuck in the open position. Photo courtesy of CBS12, the South Florida Sun Sentinel’s news partner.
