8th Grade Long-Term PBL: The Blue Bridge Project
A significant structure for both engineering and historical reasons, the St. Mary's River Bridge (aka The Blue Bridge) has played a crucial part in opening Florida to tourists and settlers from northern areas and enabled Jacksonville to become a gateway to Florida's Atlantic Coast. Today, the Blue Bridge serves as an alternate route for I-95 traffic between Georgia & Florida. The bridge is also part of a national biking pathway called the East Coast Greenway. The East Coast Greenway connects 15 states, 450 cities/towns, and 3,000 miles of trails from Maine to Florida —the country’s longest biking and walking route.
The narrowness of the Blue Bridge and its lack of a bicycle/pedestrian lane, make it an unsafe hindrance for larger vehicles, bicyclists, and pedestrians. Students will take on the role as a structural engineer to restructure the Blue Bridge to provide safe passage for all modes of traffic.
