Concrete piling falls off Big Carlos Pass Bridge on Fort Myers Beach

It was a rocky start to the day on Fort Myers Beach.

Crews working on the Big Carlos Pass Bridge had a concrete beam fall over onto a crane as Lee County deputies and other departments helped out. Traffic on Fort Myers Beach was backed up, but the bridge is now back open.

No one was hurt.

We spoke to someone who has built bridges in the past. He explained to us that the piling was in the lead and getting hammered; it snapped and crashed onto the crane.

This could have been dangerous.

Most people are thankful it didn’t fall on the bridge.

There was a major setback on the Big Carlos Pass Bridge as a piling struck a crane, damaging both pieces of equipment and putting a halt to the process of concrete getting poured this week, but some Fort Myers Beach locals are staying positive.

Glenn, who lives in Fort Myers Beach, said, “It’s gonna take time; it’s a long project. You just gotta go with the flow and take everything in strides.”

Glenn told us he lives across the street from the Big Carlos Pass Bridge, and he doesn’t seem to mind a loud noise here and there, and it’s been easier.

“But it hasn’t been too bad; as a matter of fact, it’s actually been easier since the draw bridge isn’t going up, but traffic seems to flow a lot better, just the noise, but that’s about it for now,” Glenn said.

Another Fort Myers Beach resident was curious and concerned about the bridge after he heard.

William Spratt once built bridges around the Chesapeake Bay. Spratt explained to us what happened.

“One of the piles, one of the new ones that they were driving, broke while it was in the leads, and the leads had the pile hammer in them, which is used to drive the piling down with, and when it broke, it slid down out of the leads and back up against the boom of the crane that was holding it pinning it up against it,” Spratt said.

Spratt explained this was a very fortunate situation that could have been very dangerous.

“They’re trying to be very careful to let everything down without damaging the crane anymore or having anything fall on the old bridge,” Spratt said.

Despite working on bridges his whole life, the past 30 years he’s lived on Fort Myers Beach, and said that overall, the workers are doing a great job.

“These guys have been real good. There has been very little traffic delay, and I was happy they were building a new bridge rather than overhauling the old bridge,” Spratt said.

The bridge is now open, and it’s back to normal as they continue putting the concrete down this week, continuing this project.