GOING UP? Talmadge Bridge at Savannah River Crossing could be replaced with much taller bridge or underwater tunnel

Interested parties can expect to see a summary report of results from the public input questionnaire about Savannah’s Talmadge Memorial Bridge sometime next month. The public was able to submit opinions on the proposed “Savannah River Crossing Project” (SRC) from May 6 – June 5 to the Georgia Department of Transportation (GDOT), which is overseeing the project.

SRC aims to find viable alternatives for modernizing the 1.9-mile bridge. Alternatives primarily focused on the “clearance limitations” that Georgia Ports Authority (GPA) says prevents larger ships from calling on the Port of Savannah upriver from the Talmadge Memorial Bridge, which was built in 1991. The functionality and integrity of the bridge was not the impetus for the SRC project. It’s the traffic moving under the bridge, not on it, that caused concern for GPA officials.

“Although structurally sound, the bridge’s clearance limits an ever-larger generation of ships from navigating beneath the bridge to access the Port of Savannah’s terminals,” says a portion of the GDOT project website.

“The Port is a significant economic engine for the Savannah region and the rest of the Southeast. Potentially stifling future growth, however, is the Port’s accessibility to larger ships. These larger ships, which are becoming increasingly common on the world’s oceans, are limited by the 185-foot clearance of the (Talmadge Memorial) Bridge. This project seeks to address that limitation by examining long-term improvement alternatives and proceeding into conceptual engineering/scoping, detailed cost estimates, and preliminary environmental studies.”

GDOT said it expects to have a summary report of the questionnaire results within 30-45 days (July 5-21). After that report’s release, a Public Information Open House (PIOH) will be scheduled for the Fall of 2024 followed by another round of public input before an approved concept report is released in the fourth quarter of 2025.

A third period for public input will open during the second half of 2025, meaning anyone who didn’t submit opinions in the first questionnaire can do so at least two other times in the future. The timelines come courtesy of GDOT.

“The project team is now actively reviewing, documenting, and responding to those official comments and questions,” GDOT says. “An official Comment Response Letter addressing all comments and questions will be provided in July 2024.”

The existing bridge clearance allows reliable passage to the Port of Savannah for ships between 14,000 to 17,000 twenty-foot equivalent units (TEUs). TEUs describe the capacity of container ships. The largest to have ever called on the Port of Savannah was the CMA CGM Marco Polo (approx. 16,000 TCUs) in May of 2021.

A new bridge alternative would add up to 45 feet of clearance, making Savannah’s bridge one of the tallest in the world at 230 feet.

Ships at 23,000 TCUs could then call on The Port of Savannah with relative ease, according to a 2022 feasibility study funded by Georgia Ports Authority. According to the GPA, Savannah handled a total of 4.9 million TEUs in 2023.

“Larger, more commercially viable ships (up to 23,000 TEUs) seeking access to the Port of Savannah would not be able to access the port (if clearance is not raised),” according to the GDOT project website. “This could make the Port of Savannah less competitive compared to other ports that can accommodate larger ships, potentially resulting in adverse effects on the Savannah, state and national economies.”

There is already a project approved and set to begin on the Talmadge Bridge in early 2025. It costs $179 million, according to 2023 reporting by the Atlanta-Journal Constitution. The project involves raising the center of the roadway on the Talmadge slightly and adjusting its steel cables for length addition. It is slated for completion in 2028 It could add an additional 10-20 feet of clearance for ships.
The GPA feasibility study acknowledged 27 possible alternatives for solving clearance issues. They were grouped into six categories (see above) and are listed in the study as follows: Tunnel; New Bridge: Same Location; New Bridge: Truman Parkway Extension; Remove Bridge and Re-Route US 17 Traffic; Modify Existing Bridge; and Downriver Port Facilities.

Just two of the 27 options were feasible alternatives, according to the study. They are fittingly called the “New Bridge” and “Tunnel” alternatives, and both options involve the demolishing of the Talmadge Memorial Bridge, but only once the new project has been completed. They are the only two options advanced by the study into a conceptual phase of action, and both options would be located adjacent to where the bridge is now.

Constructing a bridge further east of the current Talmadge is unlikely to be considered, based on the feasibility study findings. It would be an extension of the Truman Parkway, which currently runs from Abercorn Street to President Street in Savannah. But the study found this alternative would result in “significant congestion and mobility delays” as well as causing “significant environmental and community impacts.”

The study (see below) estimates the tunnel alternative would cost $2.01 billion and the new bridge option $1.17 billion. The study acknowledged that construction funding for the SRC has yet to be identified, but the project will be evaluated under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) in anticipation of some federal funding being provided.
Final design and early construction phases would begin on either option sometime in 2026, with construction anticipated to last 9-11 years, according to GDOT estimates.

“The new bridge would allow for a connection to Hutchinson Island and would provide two lanes of traffic in each direction,” the study says. “The two lanes would be separated by a median for a total bridge width of approximately 98 feet.”

A tunnel would alleviate all future concerns for clearance, although it costs $1 billion more than a new bridge alternative. According to the study, a new tunnel would provide comparable traffic capacity to the bridge options.

“A tunnel would be located upstream (west) of the existing bridge with access to Hutchinson Island,” the study says. “It would be constructed as two parallel bores, or tube-like passages. These bores would each be approximately 50 feet in diameter and constructed 50 feet apart.”

This article appears in Connect Savannah I Best of Savannah.