Bats delay bridge work

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http://www.local6.com/news/15135585/detail.html


20,000 Bats Delay Interstate Construction

PORT ST. LUCIE, Fla. -- Nearly 20,000 bats will be delaying a widening project for Interstate 95 in the Port St. Lucie area for four months.

The Mexican free-tailed bats can be found under the highway's twin bridges -- just above a canal.

Workers are trying to replace and widen the concrete bridge decks of I-95 in one area as part of a new interchange to be built.

But crews can't work during the bats' maternity season, which is April through August. That means drivers will be faced with lane closures.

John Greenwood is with Friends of Bats, which is monitoring the colony for the city's bridge consultant, American Consulting Engineers. He says it's important to preserve the bats, especially since each one eats 2- to 3,000 flying insects every night.

Project officials are optimistic the four-month waiting period won't delay the overall progress of the $30 million interchange.

It's scheduled to be completed in November 2009.

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