The Boca Grande Swing Bridge (Gasparilla Island Swing Bridge) with a closed vertical clearance of 9ft crosses the GICW at statute mile 34.5 in the northern Gasparilla Sound. The new bridge, currently under construction adjacent to the old bridge, is expected to be completed by the end of August at which time the old swing bridge will be in permanent open position. See /?p=148775. Our thanks to Skipper Allard for these updates.

We came through the Boca Grande swing bridge on July 23, 2015. The restricted openings are still in effect. The structural steel beams which will support the deck of the new bridge are in place and they were closed when we came through; the bridge operator said that there was approximately 25 feet of clearance under that new span. That particular span is curved, so there is more clearance on one side of the pass through. I do not know what his clearance figure was based upon. He would have opened that span (in addition to the swing bridge) if necessary, but said that it would have taken some time to have the workers leave the span with their equipment etc. So cruisers are cautioned that depending on what work is being done on that new span, there could be additional delays. The bridge operator was extremely helpful and easy to work with. We came under the new span with several feet to spare; our air draft is 20’6’³.
Greg Allard
M/V Meander

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