New Bryant Bridge now Under Construction

Milton, FL – Officials with Florida Forest Service’s Blackwater Forestry Center have begun work on Bryant Bridge along the Santa Rosa/Okaloosa counties border. Currently, crews are cutting trees and removing stumps to prepare for the approaches to the new bridge which will be south of the existing span.

Funded by the Department of Environmental Protection, the project is a joint effort between the Florida Forest Service, Santa Rosa and Okaloosa counties and expected to be completed by early fall of 2012.

“It looks like we will be able to leave the bridge open (during construction of the new bridge),” said Mike Hudson, Maintenance Administrator for Blackwater. “The old bridge has served us well but it’s built from military surplus material from the 1940s and was constructed in the 1970s.

Hudson said motorists can expect temporary closures and traffic delays in addition to the new speed limit – 15 mph – and increased patrols from the DEP as well as local sheriff’s offices. There also will be an impact to canoe and kayak travel beneath the bridge during construction. An alternate launch point has been established at Riley Bluff just south of the bridge.  Canoes will not be able to cross under the bridge during construction.

“The new bridge will have larger spans that won’t catch as much (river debris) so we won’t have to close it as often for cleaning,” said Roger Williams, Blackwater’s Road and Bridge Supervisor.

For more information, contact Joe Zwierzchowski with the Florida Forest Service at

(850) 957-6140 ext. 127 or (850) 206-2675