The work would cost at least $2.9-million and could take nine months, according to state estimates.
By JENNIFER FARRELL
Published April 10, 2004
CLEARWATER - Rebuilding damaged sections of the new Memorial Causeway Bridge would cost at least $2.9-million and could take nine months, according to estimates from the state Department of Transportation.
The estimates represent a worst-case scenario of tearing down all the defective work and starting from scratch.
But the numbers do not include the cost or timeline for demolition, a process that could add complications and further delays.
The first time, it took PCL Civil Constructors about eight months to build four columns and one section of roadway spanning the main channel in Clearwater Harbor, the DOT said Friday.
The contractor took another month to erect a separate 104-foot length of roadway closer to the mainland.
After cracks were found in the concrete columns and the roadway fell about 7 inches this year, engineers began studying how to fix the problems.
PCL, which must pay all repair costs, initially proposed fixing the cracks with epoxy and grout. But last week the DOT rejected that plan and halted most work on the $69.3-million project.
Environmental restrictions will likely prevent PCL from using explosives to drop damaged sections near the channel, an engineering consultant overseeing the project said. The contractor used that method in December 2002 on another damaged span over land.
But this time, the sections near the channel would need to come down piece by piece, if it is determined they must be replaced instead of strengthened, said Bill Adams, a senior project engineer with Parsons Brinckerhoff.
"You've got to take one of those things down the way you put it up," he said.
Until engineers complete their analysis and the DOT approves a repair strategy, it is unclear how much longer the project will take. If the bridge is not done by July 22, PCL must pay the state $15,089 a day in damages, under the contract.
The DOT has paid for most of the work on the bridge. PCL has received more than $42-million of its $48-million contract, roughly 87 percent of its pay.
After cracks in the columns were discovered in late January, the DOT halted payments to the contractor. Records show the state's last payment to PCL was Jan. 26 for $2.3-million.
The fallen roadway was discovered in early February.
"We're only supposed to pay for work that's acceptable," DOT district engineer Jim Moulton said. "But sometimes you don't know if it's acceptable at the time you're making the payment."
For instance, he said, the state paid for the channel columns at the time they were built. The cracks weren't caused until later, when the columns were subjected to heavy bending forces from the road above during construction.
PCL is covered by a performance bond, which is essentially an insurance policy that protects the state should the contractor be unable to finish the job.
It is unlikely the bond would come into play in this case because PCL is a large international firm, Moulton said.
"The big concern would be if they're going to go bankrupt," he said. "That's not a concern here."
Meanwhile, the state has kept a running tally and has leverage, Moulton said, because PCL has not been paid in full.
PCL officials, in an agreement struck with the DOT, have declined to comment on specifics about the bridge. But this week, PCL's vice president, Jerry Harder, addressed concerns about his company finishing the project in Clearwater.
"In the last 98 years, we have never not finished a job," he said. "Our reputation is really important to us."
