Boats, Boats, Boats! I love boats but I need to get from that waterfront house to the ocean and there’s these darn bridges everywhere. So I get this one often: What’s the bridge clearance for this bridge or that bridge? And, here they are in no particular order but generally go from south to north.
The Blue Heron bridge over the intracoastal in Riviera Beach is <65′ at Mean High Water FIXED. This bridge is UNDER 65′. The tide boards are just wrong as I have personally seen an “intracoastal height” 64′ sailboat hit it at about mid tide.
The Little Lake Worth bridge in North Palm Beach/Palm Beach Gardens on Jack Nicklaus Drive (the extension of PGA Blvd east of US-1 headed toward Singer Island) is 12′ at Mean High Water (MHW) and connects Lake Worth to Little Lake Worth accessing the communities of Lost Tree, Portage Landing, Hidden Key, Captains Key and Seminole Landing. The Twelve Oaks community is in front of this bridge.
The Lighthouse Road bridge in North Palm Beach is 15′ at Mean High Water FIXED. Note that this is slightly higher that the new Coast Guard standard of 12′. The Village of North Palm Beach residents only boat ramp is behind this bridge as well as the lower Route 1 bridge to the west of Frigates.
The A1A bridge over the C-17 Canal (a/k/a “Earman River”) in North Palm Beach is just under 8′ at Mean High Water FIXED. There are only a hand full of properties behind this bridge. Note that the Village of North Palm Beach has plans to replace and RAISE this bridge by about now 3′ by raising the deck and limiting the space below the deck allowed for the super structure.
The Route 1 bridge over the C-17 canal (a/k/a “Earman River”) in North Palm Beach is +/-7′ (I have to drop my bimini at high tide) at Mean High Water FIXED. This is the bridge by the Frigates restaurant that had a section collapse recently. Note that the Village of North Palm Beach also has plans to replace and RAISE this bridge by about 2 foot by raising the deck and limiting to space allowed for the super structure.
The Route 1 (Parker) bridge over the intracoastal in North Palm Beach is 25′ at Mean High Water but is bascule style DRAW bridge opening at 15 minutes before and 15 minutes after the hour.
The PGA Blvd bridge over the intracoastal in Palm Beach Gardens is 25′ at Mean High Water bascule style DRAW bridge opening on the hour and the half hour.
The Ellison Wilson Road bridge in Juno Beach is VERY low and I would say it’s 4.5′ clear fixed bridge at mean high water. Just a guess on this one though.
The Donald Ross bridge over the intracoastal in Juno Beach is 35′ at Mean High Water bascule style DRAW bridge opening opening on the hour and half hour.
The Indiantown Road bridge over the intracoastal in Jupiter is 35′ at Mean High Water bascule style DRAW bridge opening on the hour and the half hour.
The US-1 bridge over the intracoastal in Jupiter is 25′ at Mean High Water bascule style DRAW bridge opening on demand but not more than two times in any given hour. AS OF 2020 THIS BRIDGE IS NOW SCHEDULED TO BE REPLACED STARTING IN 2022 WITH A 35′ clearance DRAW BRIDGE.
The A1A bridge in Jupiter over the Loxahatchee River in Jupiter is 25′ at Mean High Water FIXED. There are MANY MANY homes behind this fixed bridge and the adjacent railroad draw bridge. The railroad bridge is scheduled to be updated with the Brightline updates but most of the time this bridge is open anyway. It is VERY narrow between the abutments here and with the current this can be a tough one if two boats decide to go for it at the same time. The vessel with the tide behind it has the right or way such as outgoing vessel on an outgoing tide.
The Jupiter Island bridge over the intracoastal in Tequesta is 25′ at Mean High Water bascule style DRAW bridge opening on demand but not more than two times in any given hour.
The Tequesta Drive bridge over the north fork of the Loxahatchee River in Tequesta by Bermuda Terrace is +/-14′ FIXED. This one was replaced on an emergency basis a few years ago.
The Center St. bridge over Sims Creek in Jupiter is +/- 4.5′ at Mean High Water FIXED.
The Island Way bridge (in Martin County) over the south fork of the Loxahatchee River in Jupiter is +/-12′ at Mean High Water FIXED.
Of Course, if there is a king tide, or as sea level rises, there will be less bridge clearance. In another post I explore where one can buy ethanol free gas on the road in the north county.
