Hurricane Relief

01/02/06

Hurricane Wilma crossed south Florida, from west to east, on October 24, and the Category 3 storm, with winds over 100 mph, did significant damage to Florida’s Broward and Palm Beach Counties.

In the storm’s aftermath, the Florida Department of Transportation’s (FDOT’s) immediate focus was on clearing and restoring roadways. Teaming with Target Engineering Group, TBE has been playing a major role in this effort – tracking crews; making sure roadways are cleared, debris is removed, signs and signals are restored; and ensuring contractor reimbursement from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA).

Restoring signage and traffic signals on state roadways is a two-step process. For signage restoration, assessment teams first travel all state roads, using FDOT as-built plans to record every damaged or missing sign. As the signs are restored/replaced, TBE inspectors go back out to ensure the work has been done to FDOT specifications.

Traffic signal restoration is more complicated, especially when approximately 97% of the 1,480 signalized intersections in Broward County and 90% of the 1,200 signalized intersections in Palm Beach County were affected. In addition to the initial assessment, crews must immediately restore at least one signal in each direction at each of the affected intersections.

The next phase involves returning to these intersections to completely rebuild the signalization to pre-hurricane conditions. In addition to FDOT, TBE is coordinating with Palm Beach and Broward Counties’ Traffic Operations and various municipalities to ensure that all signal communication and restoration is completed as efficiently as possible.