SEBASTIAN INLET BRIDGE

Part of a national movement to improve and maintain roadways, the State Road Department constructed the first bridge over Sebastian Inlet in 1965. Local engineers, Bingdorf and Damerow designed the two-lane concrete bridge to be first in the state constructed of post-tensioned concrete, but design changes during construction resulted in the utilization of the more typical method of prestressed concrete. The Cleary Brothers Construction Company of West Palm Beach built the bridge, providing the first consistent link between the northern and southern ends of Orchid Island. The bridge was originally named after Robert W. Graves, who chaired the Indian River County Commission and advocated for the bridge. In 2004, it was renamed the James H. Pruitt Bridge. Pruitt was a local state representative who worked to enhance transportation connections between Indian River County and Brevard County. In 2025, construction began on a wider, taller bridge to provide safe passage over Sebastian Inlet.