The “Three-Mile Bridge,” or Pensacola Bay Bridge, is nearing the end of its 50-year design life, and contractors are already vying for the opportunity to construct its replacement, a nearly $500-million dollar project slated to begin in late 2016 or early 2017. A project that has been brewing since January 2011, reconstructing the Bay Bridge was deemed necessary when it failed to reach the proper sufficiency rank after its last inspection in 2010.