After months of repairs, reinforcement and roadwork by the Superior Construction and The de Moya Group joint-venture team, all travel lanes across the Sanibel Causeway are now permanently open, and work on the roadway is substantially complete.

“We are very grateful for the contractor’s outstanding work on this project,” said Chris Mollitor, Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) construction manager. “This team of contractors has worked day and night since the storm to bring the project to this milestone.”

On September 28, 2022, Hurricane Ian hit Florida’s southwestern coast, claiming more than 150 lives and causing $112 billion in damage. It also washed away portions of Sanibel Causeway, a three-mile series of bridges, leaving some locals stranded on Sanibel and Captiva Islands.

In October 2022, the Sanibel project team completed the temporary repairs, granting locals access to the mainland in just fifteen days — one week ahead of schedule. After achieving that milestone, their focus turned to reinforcing the emergency work and improving the Sanibel Causeway’s resilience to future storms.

The Sanibel team recently reached another major milestone. On December 22, just fifteen months after Hurricane Ian devastated Sanibel Island, they completed the permanent roadway repairs. 

“I am not sure I can put into words what the Sanibel team accomplished under such unique, challenging circumstances,” said Superior Project Manager Toby Mazzoni. 

The Sanibel Causeway emergency repairs contract was FDOT’s first-ever phased design-build project. This procurement method allowed the project to be delivered in phases, which expedited construction and allowed the project team to procure long lead materials, like sheet piles.

Although the temporary emergency permit expired before the permanent permit was issued, Superior quickly obtained the permit necessary to resume construction on September 8, 2023.

“Despite this setback, we still wanted to meet the original deadline for roadway work to be substantially completed, which was Christmas 2023,” Mazzoni said. “The JV team significantly ramped up resources and reached out to major subcontractors and material suppliers for support.”

At peak construction, the joint venture team had three pile-driving crews (marine/land), four roadway earthwork crews, two storm drainage crews, six rebar-tying crews, eight concrete placement crews, three asphalt paving crews, and various other support resources. They maintained two lanes of traffic at all times and utilized three major traffic control phases to remove and reconstruct 1.3 miles of the causeway while providing significant resiliency upgrades.

The latest project milestone required the Sanibel team to:

• Demolish 35,000 square yards of existing roadway asphalt and base, 2,270 linear feet of concrete barrier wall, and 4,500 linear feet of concrete coping 
• Demolish five bridge approach slab areas
• Set 40,000 linear feet of temporary concrete barrier wall for traffic control 
• Place and grade 19,000 tons of shell base
• Install 163,000 square feet of retaining wall sheet piling, 64,000 square feet of king pile wall, and 183,000 square feet of island wall sheet piling
• Install 4,450 linear feet of retaining wall concrete cap (including 87,000 pounds of steel reinforcement) and 8,400 linear feet of island wall concrete cap (including 162,000 linear feet of fiber reinforcement)
• Install 5,500 linear feet of shoulder and median concrete barriers 
• Install five new concrete bridge approach slabs (including 61,000 pounds of steel reinforcement) 
• Install 3,000 linear feet of underdrain system for retaining walls (including 7,000 tons of #57 stone)
• Install 1,500 linear feet of storm drainage system
• Place 19,500 tons of asphalt pavement

“This scope of work would normally take 18 or more months to complete. The Sanibel JV team completed it in 105 calendar days [from 9/8/2023 to 12/22/2023],” said Mazzoni.

Work on the islands and the water surrounding the causeway bridges will continue for another year.

Superior thanks and congratulates the entire Sanibel JV team for their dedication and perseverance, including its leaders: Paul Suellentrop (deMoya / Asphalt Group), Toby Mazzoni (Superior), Will Roth (Superior), Guillermo Yunez (deMoya / Asphalt Group), David Bostwick (Superior), and Jose Medina (Superior).