Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project

Mobile, Alabama

Michael Baker is providing program management for all aspects of the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project to reconstruct I-10 through Mobile, Alabama. The project includes a new two-tower cable stayed bridge over the Mobile River and replacement of the 7-mile-long I-10 Bayway Bridge. The project entails reconfiguring seven interchanges and incorporating an all-electronic tolling system.

Michael Baker’s role is to support the Alabama Department of Transportation (ALDOT) in all project phases, including procurement of the progressive design-build teams, development of technical provisions, oversight and execution of design review, oversight of construction field verification and material testing, and assistance with implementation of all-electronic roadside tolling and back-office support.

The project is being procured as two progressive design-build contracts, each estimated at more than $1.3 billion in construction cost. The project is the largest in ALDOT’s history.

The U.S. Department of Transportation awarded a $550 million discretionary grant from the Bridge Investment Program to assist funding. The grant award is one of the largest received for an Alabama project and is the second largest in the program’s history.

When complete, the project will remove one of the most critical interstate bottlenecks in the United States, where I-10 passes through Downtown Mobile. The project will accommodate anticipated growth in Mobile, minimize impacts on Mobile’s expanding maritime industry and eliminate detouring of hazardous materials through economically underprivileged communities. The elevation of the Bayway Bridge also will be raised to diminish vulnerability from storm surge.

To date, the collaborative efforts of Michael Baker, the client and the design-builders have resulted in numerous modifications to the base design. These efforts will result in tens of millions of dollars in reduced construction cost and months of schedule reduction.

Construction is anticipated to begin in the summer of 2025. The project has an aggressive schedule to meet federal funding requirements and will open to traffic in 2030.

Renderings courtesy of the Alabama Department of Transportation.