They’ve had Fort Pierce’s ‘best seat in the house’ | St. Lucie County

FORT PIERCE – For decades, they had arguably the “best seat in the house” for panoramic views of Fort Pierce’s Indian River Lagoon.

But soon the small, rust-roofed, windowed hut on the north side of the D.H. “Banty” Saunders Drawbridge that connected Fort Pierce and North Hutchinson Island, will no longer be occupied by shifts of “bridge tenders.”

For decades, a rotation of six or seven tenders have staffed their perch 25 feet above the intercoastal waters, listening as radio transmissions from mariners break the silence, requesting the drawbridge be raised to allow their vessels to pass underneath. The tenders jump into action, coming outside for a visual check, while sounding an alert and warning horn to vehicles and pedestrians on the bridge, lowering crossing arms and activating red light traffic signals in both directions.

Then they activate motors and drives to raise thousands of pounds of metal grate arms into the air, suspending them perpendicular until the boats pass underneath.

Once the vessels clear the bridge, the arms that carried two lanes of traffic would slowly lower, the traffic light turned green and the crossing arms would raise, allowing backed-up traffic to proceed.

Depending upon when a driver approached the scene and how many boats were crossing under the bridge, vehicles could be at a standstill for 15-20 minutes.

With the opening of the new E. C. Summerlin Family Bridge, the tenders who worked for Florida Drawbridges Inc., a subsidiary of FDI Services, Pompano Beach, soon won’t report to work here. They have been offered jobs at other locations, but Daniel Porter, FDI chief executive officer, said only one has accepted a transfer to a North Palm Beach bridge.

“They are long-time employees who were very dedicated to their job,” Porter said. “They’re not excited about the change. Most of them don’t want to drive a long distance to another location because they live near Fort Pierce. ”

According to Porter, FDI has contracts for “moveable bridges” across the U.S., many concentrated on the East Coast, from Portland, ME to Islamorada in the Florida Keys. The company has multi-year contracts to operate, maintain and inspect each bridge.

While it cost the state $116 million to build Fort Pierce’s new, 1.2-mile concrete span, Porter said the price of maintaining a drawbridge is steep.

“It’s a mechanical structure over salt water with vibration that requires a human operator,” Porter explained. “There’s nothing more expensive than a drawbridge over time.”

Besides the parts motorists can see, there are back-up generators that must be tested weekly. Redundancy is built into the plan so that using different combinations of electric drives and motors can address many drawbridge glitches that could force North Hutchinson Island traffic to go north to Vero Beach to cross from the Intercoastal to the mainland.

“You can swap them around in different combinations, if you know what you’re doing, to keep the bridge running,” Porter explained. “You have to be prepared to deal with hurricanes, salt water and the burning sun. Lots of lubricants, scraping and painting is a big part of the battle with these bridges.”

According to Porter, many bridge tenders are themselves former mariners, sometimes ex-Coast Guard or Navy.

“There’s quiet time when they can enjoy the view and talk on the radio with other captains they know. They have had the best seat in the house with a great view of the area. It’s not physically taxing, but their job is very important.”

Radio transmissions from approaching vessels are the most common way the bridge tenders receive requests to open a drawbridge. Federal law also says a vessel can raise a signal flag or emit five short horn blasts.

Once the tender begins the process, Porter said it takes seven minutes just to open and close the mid-point drawbridge.

At 85-feet above the water at its highest point, the new North Hutchinson Island Bridge is the fifth tallest in Florida. Clearance for the old bridge was just 25 feet.

One side of barrier-protected pedestrian/bike pathway has been available since the two lanes of east/west traffic opened May 15. But construction will continue into 2027, on access to an observation deck, park and completion of additional sidewalk.

After 63 years suspended above Intercoastal waters , the drawbridge’s metal grates will be demolished, submerged and repurposed to create an artificial underwater reef four miles northeast of the Fort Pierce Inlet.

And life on this stretch of land along the Atlantic Ocean will move at just a little quicker pace.