Alabama's I-10 Mobile River Bridge Project Receives Key Federal Funding

Half a billion dollars of federal funding is going toward building a new bridge in Mobile, Alabama.

Last month, Alabama Governor Kay Ivey announced that the Mobile River Bridge and Bayway Project will receive a $550 million discretionary USDOT grant from the Bridge Investment Program. It’s believed to be the largest federal grant ever awarded for an Alabama project.

The project – estimated to cost $2.8 billion to $2.5 billion – aims to create a new Interstate 10 Bridge and Bayway connecting Mobile and the eastern shore of Baldwin County in southern Alabama and has been in the works since 1997 when the first feasibility study was conducted.

The new Mobile River Bridge will be a six-lane, cable-stayed structure with a minimum 215 feet of air draft clearance across the Mobile River channel.

A 2022 proposal from the project suggested maximum toll fees of $2.50 for passenger cars with an ALGO pass and $18 for semi-trucks along the bayway. Alabama Department of Transportation Chief Engineer Ed Austin said this new investment – coupled with other support at the local and state level – puts the project in a position to break ground as soon as next year.

As of mid-2019, the $2 billion project was slated to be completed in 2025.

This investment in the Mobile Bridge project is part of a new round of federal funding for large bridge projects through the Federal Highway Administration’s competitive Bridge Investment Program.

The Bridge Investment Program will spend $40 billion over five years for keeping bridges safe and operational, meeting current and future traveler needs, supporting local economies, strengthening supply chains to keep costs down for consumers, and create good-paying jobs across the country, the administration says.