Pontoon boat partially crunched when Jupiter drawbridge starts to move. What happened?

Katherine Kokal, Palm Beach Post
·3 min read

TEQUESTA — At least six people were aboard a pontoon boat that was partially crunched when Cato's Bridge began to open on April 1.

Video posted to social media shows boaters jumping off the craft as the moveable span of the drawbridge comes down on the top of it.

The incident happened at about 2:30 p.m., when the boaters appeared to tie the pontoon onto the bridge to escape rain near the Jupiter Lighthouse.

According to media reports and a witness to the incident, none of the boaters were injured.

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Cato's Bridge crosses the Indian River between the village of Tequesta and the town of Jupiter Inlet Colony. Owned by Palm Beach County, it doesn't operate on a regular schedule like other drawbridges in the county's north end.

Instead, the bridge only opens on demand when a boat nearby needs to get beneath it. Posted near the areas surrounding the moveable span of the bridge are signs that warn people of dangerous moving machinery.

When the drawbridge operates, concrete parts of the bridge move downward toward the water as the middle span moves upward to make space for boats. The parts that move downward in the bascule pit counteract the weight of the moving bridge, according to a 1996 article published in Civil Engineering titled the "Rebound of the Bascule Bridge."

When closed, Cato's Bridge has a 25-foot clearance. The horizontal opening in the main channel is 90 feet.

What happened?

The pontoon was stopped on the westernmost span of the bridge, away from the main channel that runs beneath the drawbridge.

Jillian Pisciotta, 18, of Stuart was also hiding from the rain, having a picnic with her friends under the bridge when it began to move.

"Me and my friends were all in shock. We didn’t really know how to react," she said.

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So she started to film with her cellphone.

As the chaotic scene unfolded, two people jumped off the boat as three remained inside. One man swimming in the water repeatedly told the others to "watch out."

Pisciotta said none of the people were injured, although one of the women on the boat lost her phone.

A boat that was later crunched by the Cato's bridge bascule on April 1. The boat was tied under the bridge to get out of the rain.
A boat that was later crunched by the Cato's bridge bascule on April 1. The boat was tied under the bridge to get out of the rain.

The Florida Department of Transportation is investigating the incident, which is the second involving a Palm Beach County drawbridge this year.

On Feb. 6, 79-year-old Carol Wright died when she fell from the Royal Park Bridge in West Palm Beach. Wright was walking her bike across the bridge when it began to move.

The bridge tender, a 43-year-old Greenacres resident, has been charged with manslaughter after police said she did not properly check for people on the bridge before operating it.

kkokal@pbpost.com

@katikokal

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Tequesta pontoon boat under bridge crushed by Cato's drawbridge April 1