Sawgrass Interchange
History
The Sawgrass Interchange was built between 1986 and 1989. The interchange opened in late 1989. The interchange was constructed at a cost of $52 million (1989 USD). At the time of its opening, the interchange was the largest in Florida.
In 2023, there was widespread concern when a social media post, which erroneously claimed that one of the interchange's bridges was structurally unsound because of a visible gap, went viral. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) inspected the bridge and found no structural defects; the "gap" was normal and intentionally constructed when the bridge was built in the 1980s, being the location of one of the bridge's expansion joints.
Description
The Sawgrass Interchange is a large stack interchange. It serves as the junction point for three major expressways in South Florida: Interstate 75 (I-75), I-595 (the Port Everglades Expressway), and State Road 869 (SR 869, Sawgrass Expressway). SR 84 also travels through the interchange.
The interchange also serves as both the western terminus I-595 and the southern terminus of SR 869, both of which merge into I-75. It also serves as the eastern terminus of Alligator Alley.
Design
The Sawgrass Interchange consists of several bridges and 70 bridge spans—all of which are made of precast segmental concrete; the bridge spans range from 120 to 200 feet (37 to 61 m) and were constructed with 1,366 precast box girder segments. The stack interchange occupies an area of approximately 550 acres (220 ha).
See also
References
- ^ "I-75 / I-595 Sawgrass Interchange". Corven Engineering. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
- ^ "I-595-Sawgrass Interchange Nears Completion". Sun Sentinel. Deerfield Beach, Florida. December 25, 1989. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
- ^ "I-75/I-595/Sawgrass Expressway Interchange". Bergeron Land Development. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
- ^ Medina, Dani (July 18, 2023). "'Gaps' in Florida bridge are normal, FDOT says". FOX 35 Orlando. Orlando, Florida: WOFL-TV. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
- ^ "Concerns over possible crack on I-595 and Sawgrass Interchange bridge". CBS Miami. Miami, Florida: WFOR-TV. July 17, 2023. Retrieved December 21, 2023.
- ^ Tang, M. C.; Bellevue, L.; Towell, P. J.; Algner, E. (1990). "Construction of the I-75/I-595 Interchange, Broward County, Florida". Developments in Short and Medium Span Bridge Engineering: Third International Conference on Short and Medium Span Bridges. Toronto: Canadian Society For Civil Engineering. pp. 413–421. ISBN 978-0-921303-14-5.
External links
Media related to Sawgrass Interchange at Wikimedia Commons
