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Senior U.S. Army official celebrates Earth Day during kick-off for next steps of Everglades project

By Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil WorksApril 22, 2016

Tamiami Trail bridge project, Everglades
Infrastructure improvements began in 2009 to restore flow through the Everglades by raising sections of the Tamiami Trail roadway that cuts through the Everglades and constructing a one-mile bridge. The first mile of bridging was completed in 2013. (... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

EVERGLADES NATIONAL PARK, Florida (April 22, 2016) -- Assistant Secretary of the Army for Civil Works, HON Jo-Ellen Darcy, today participated with federal, state and local partners to kick off the next phase of bridging on the Tamiami Trail.

Infrastructure improvements began in 2009 to restore flow through the Everglades by raising sections of the Tamiami Trail roadway that cuts through the Everglades and constructing a one-mile bridge. The first mile of bridging was completed in 2013. The next two-and-a-half-mile bridge is made possible by a collaborative funding partnership among the National Park Service, the U.S. Department of Transportation 'Federal Lands Highway Program,' and Florida's Department of Transportation.

The additional bridging will improve ecological conditions in Everglades National Park and will help to restore the quantity, timing and distribution of water deliveries to the Park.

"In 2013 I was honored to attend the ribbon cutting commemorating the first mile of the Tamiami Trail Bridge constructed by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers," said Darcy. "Finishing the second phase of this trail builds on the Obama administration's unprecedented progress toward restoring the Everglades and recognizes that we cannot rest in our commitment to work with our partners to bring this critical ecosystem back to health."

The effort to restore the Everglades is the largest watershed restoration program in the world. President Obama has been a champion of south Florida and Everglades ecosystem restoration, since taking office. The Obama administration has invested $2.2 billion in Everglades restoration. Of this total, $985 million has been invested in the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' efforts to restore America's Everglades.

U.S. Representatives Carlos Curbelo, (R-FL 26th District); Patrick Murphy, (D-FL 18th District); Debbie Wasserman-Schultz, (D-FL 23rd District); also participated in the kick off ceremony.

For more information about the project visit http://www.saj.usace.army.mil/Missions/Environmental/EcosystemRestoration.aspx.

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