State Road 836 Flyover Bridges

Owner: Miami-Dade Expressway Authority
Location: Miami
Cost: $39 million
Contractor: Condotte America, Miami
Engineer: HNTB Corp., Miami

The Miami-Dade Expressway Authority has embarked on an expressway expansion program that includes three design-build contracts, the first of which is approximately 2.6 mi. long and contains the State Road 836 Flyover bridges.

Within the project limits, there are four bridge sites, three of which are completely new structures employing aesthetic features such as concrete formliners for piers and retaining walls, structural lines, unusual color schemes and inlaid tile. The two largest bridges consist of long-span, steel-box-girder superstructures and aesthetically enhanced piers.

Bridge No. 11 replaces the existing bridge over the Homestead Extension of Florida's Turnpike by carrying the expanded three lanes of westbound S.R. 836 traffic over the mainline HEFT lanes.

The owner had recommended this 543-ft.-long bridge be built as a concrete segmental-box-girder bridge. However, the design-build team of HNTB and Condotte performed a cost analysis and found it to be more cost-effective to utilize a steel-box girder solution.

The team also had to alter the type of pier used for a portion of Bridge No. 11, due to limited space in one area.

On Bridge No. 12, the owner also had recommended use of a concrete segmental-box-girder design, but again HNTB and Condotte chose a more cost-effective steel-box-girder option for the 528-ft.-long bridge.