Indian River Inlet Bridge | DE Seashore State Park

Why A New Bridge?

Dennis O’Shea | Assistant Director of Design | Delaware Department of Transportation
The following information was taken from the Delaware Department of Transportation website.

The reason for replacing the bridge is the severe scouring that has taken place over the years, resulting in an Inlet depth of approximately 28 feet in 1965, to an Inlet depth greater than 100 feet today. The Army Corps first reported evidence of significant scouring in the 1980s after an underwater survey indicated that the bridge supports, also known as piers, in the Inlet were exposed and undermined.

An additional concern related to the scour is the exposure of the steel H piles to salt water. H- Piles are the support piles for the piers. Water, especially salt water, is detrimental to steel. DelDOT attempted to control the condition of the steel piles by installing a protection system to the piles. Unfortunately, this system has been problematic and the exposed steel support piles are continuing to corrode, losing strength.