Bridge 1-447 is known as Taylor’s Bridge and carries SR-9 Taylors Bridge Road over Blackbird Creek. Located in New Castle County, Delaware, approximately 5 miles southeast of Odessa, this segment of SR-9 is a designated scenic byway and part of Delaware’s Bayshore Byway. The bridge is primarily used to provide access to the surrounding area, SR-1, US 13, and as a scenic route traveling between historic New Castle and the Delaware Beaches. The bridge also provides local pedestrians with a location for enjoying views of the surrounding marshland wildlife and is utilized for recreational fishing. As this route is part of the Delaware Byways Program and functions as a primary route for access to local residential areas, maintaining functional use of the bridge is important for residents and tourism in the area.
Because the project runs through a wetland environment, avoiding and minimizing impacts to the wetlands was a primary focus for the project team. Surrounded by business, residential, and agricultural areas, careful consideration was made to limit the impacts to these stakeholders throughout construction; a public meeting was held in July 2021.
The replacement structure will be comprised of a four-span precast, prestressed concrete superstructure, totaling 440-ft in length, and supported by reinforced concrete piers and abutments with steel sheet pile walls on the approach roadways. The new structure will pass the 50-year design storm and the effects of 3-ft of sea level rise, which will require raising the profile grade of Taylors Bridge Road at the bridge and along the approach roadways. The project requires approximately 2100’ of roadway reconstruction.
Bridge 1-447 is known as Taylor’s Bridge and carries SR-9 Taylors Bridge Road over Blackbird Creek. Located in New Castle County, Delaware, approximately 5 miles southeast of Odessa, this segment of SR-9 is a designated scenic byway and part of Delaware’s Bayshore Byway. The bridge is primarily used to provide access to the surrounding area, SR-1, US 13, and as a scenic route traveling between historic New Castle and the Delaware Beaches. The bridge also provides local pedestrians with a location for enjoying views of the surrounding marshland wildlife and is utilized for recreational fishing. As this route is part of the Delaware Byways Program and functions as a primary route for access to local residential areas, maintaining functional use of the bridge is important for residents and tourism in the area.
Because the project runs through a wetland environment, avoiding and minimizing impacts to the wetlands was a primary focus for the project team. Surrounded by business, residential, and agricultural areas, careful consideration was made to limit the impacts to these stakeholders throughout construction; a public meeting was held in July 2021.
The replacement structure will be comprised of a four-span precast, prestressed concrete superstructure, totaling 440-ft in length, and supported by reinforced concrete piers and abutments with steel sheet pile walls on the approach roadways. The new structure will pass the 50-year design storm and the effects of 3-ft of sea level rise, which will require raising the profile grade of Taylors Bridge Road at the bridge and along the approach roadways. The project requires approximately 2100’ of roadway reconstruction.