The bridge that is seen here is the Sidney Lanier Bridge that is located in Brunswick, Georgia. The original bridge was built in 1956 and has been recently re-built and improved! (It was originally built by the same company that had built I-35W that had collapsed in 2007).
After visiting Georgia, I did some research. I found that this bridge, which is a cable-stayed bridge (cables support the bridge deck) completed back in 2002, actually is environmentally friendly!
The most southern part of Georgia is VERY popular for turtles and where they lay their eggs... Once the turtles are hatched, they end up migrating back to the water by following the moon light. Since the Sidney Lanier Bridge is a popular port in Georgia, it is very important for there to be proper lighting for ships entering and leaving the area. It was important that "to keep lights on the 4,000 foot-long, cable-stayed Sidney Lanier Bridge from disorienting the migrating turtles, the Georgia Department of Transportation worked with the U.S. Coast Guard and the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service to install a minimum number of lights on both the bridge deck and the approach road and to use shielded low-sodium, low-wattage lights that cut glare and light scatter. Since every season there are an estimated 100-120 turtle eggs laid in each nest on the island beaches and on average approximately 64,000 of the nestlings make it to the water, the lights may protect a large number of turtles. "
I found it VERY interesting that the people who built this bridge, were looking out for the turtles and doing whatever possible to help continue their migration in Brunswick, Georgia!
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This is so great Erika! Very cool to see they are helping out the little guys :) Thank you for sharing!
ReplyDeleteCool! That's so great that the habits of local wildlife were taken into consideration when this bridge was re-built!
ReplyDeleteErika,
ReplyDeleteYou do such a good job of using research to back up your blog posts! In this case, the information you found really compliments the photo! It is nice to know that the company that built the bridge had environmental interests in mind when rebuilding the bridge!
wow thats really cool. How did you find that out? I would have never thought of such a creative topic! good job.
ReplyDeleteGreat Picture! It is so cool to see how different organizations are coming together for a common cause, espially when it's something that helps the environment so much.
ReplyDelete