Railroad bridge to close briefly Labor Day for more repairs

Ed Killer, Treasure Coast Newspapers
·2 min read

The railroad bridge across the St. Lucie River in Stuart will be closed in the down position from 12:01 a.m. to 3:00 a.m. Sept. 4, to perform additional rail joint welding, a release from Brightline and Florida East Coast Railway announced early Friday.

This follows intermittent night time and day time closures during the past week and last weekend to complete additional work on the bridge.

The changes to the bridge's regularly scheduled operating plan were approved by the U.S. Coast Guard.

The St. Lucie River railroad bridge is in the down position in this photo.
The St. Lucie River railroad bridge is in the down position in this photo.

The bridge schedule and construction alerts are posted on the new St. Lucie Bridge Schedule app and website that Brightline and FEC Railway recently launched for mariners.

The railroad companies also have erected electronic variable message signs on each side of the bridge, which are connected to the railroad signal system. The signs display a countdown on when the drawbridge will come down as a train approaches or goes back up again.

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Brightline also built a bridge monitor house on the tracks for a bridge monitor to be stationed there from 6 a.m. to 10 p.m. every day. The public can contact the bridge monitor at VHF Channel 9 or by phone at 772-403-1005.

Brightline also will communicate information through Twitter, its website or via its text alert system. Sign up by texting “STL” to 888-384-0037.

From May 1-22, the railroad companies closed the bridge to boat traffic to conduct much-needed bridge construction repairs to the trunnions, which help the draw go up and down.

In June, the Marine Industries Association of the Treasure Coast installed a webcam at Hudson's on the River focused on the drawbridge.

Brightline has announced its service between West Palm Beach and Orlando will begin later this year, but has not specified a date.

Ed Killer writes about boating issues for TCPalm. Email him at ed.killer@tcpalm.com.

This article originally appeared on Treasure Coast Newspapers: Railroad bridge will close at night Labor Day for more repair work