Work progressing slowly on Memorial Causeway Bridge

Thursday, December 16, 2004

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With so much focus on the Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway,

The bridge is not scheduled to reopen until next September.

many have forgotten about the woes in Clearwater with the Memorial Causeway Bridge.

Many recall, however, PCL is the firm in charge of both projects.

It said the approach area to the bridge is almost done, as is the part of the bridge you actually drive on.

The holdup is still because of unstable piers and the cracked column, though the Florida Department of Transportation said the contractor is making progress this week and next to correct the problems.

The construction schedule for the Clearwater Memorial Bridge suffered months of setbacks when engineers said they found disturbing problems with the tallest section of the bridge, including cracks in the columns.

Designers decided to replace each of the faulty pillars with two new ones. Next week they plan to pour concrete in structures meant to support each pillar.

Workers will eventually demolish the bad columns in the middle piece by piece, leaving the four smaller support columns.

"We're going to be [demolishing] the column in the middle, and when I say [demolish] it doesn't involve any kind of explosions," Kris Carson of FDOT said. "It will be chipped away at with hammers and saws."

FDOT said PCL would pay $10 million to fix their mistake. The price to the public ...

Four smaller support columns will eventually be built for the bridge.

"Headaches," Pinellas County resident Denise Canter said. "A lot of headaches with the traffic. And the noise? The noise. Can't enjoy it."

Clearwater Vice Mayor Frank Hibberd said the construction has been, "A tremendous inconvenience to our citizens, our business and our guests. And we'll look forward to that ribbon cutting in September."

Construction workers started the steel structure for the second set of problem columns. The wood and concrete are still to come. By February, PCL will prepare the new pillars for attachment to the rest of the bridge. When this section is done, eight columns, not four, will support the largest part of the bridge.

FDOT originally hoped to see motorists driving on the bridge by April 2005. But that won't happen until next Labor Day.

FDOT said the two columns would be much stronger than just the one at each support point. When asked why the contractor isn't replacing all the pillars, FDOT said there are no problems with the other pillars and it would be too expensive.