Innovative technique used on Belleair Causeway project

Workers will use a construction technique called incremental launching to bridge these columns.

BELLEAIR BEACH (Bay News 9) -- Work continues on the new Belleair Causeway Bridge, and workers are using an innovative approach on the project.

Instead of large scaffolding usually needed to lay down concrete slabs between columns, crews are using an assembly line method called incremental launching.

"It's really not very complicated," said project manager Tony Horrnik. "Basically, what you do is you cast a segment over land, and as they cure, as that concrete becomes hard, you take that segment and you slide it."

The technique is expected to save taxpayers about $125,000 compared to conventional methods.

According to the project director, Pinellas County is the second area in the U.S. to use incremental launching to build portions of a bridge.

The Belleair Causeway construction project is expected to cost about $72 million and is expected to be complete by spring 2010.

The project started about a year ago.

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