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JENNIFER FARRELL and JEFF HARRINGTONThe DOT says the builder of the Memorial Causeway bridge can't simply mend defective support columns. Replacing them could add millions to the cost.
CLEARWATER - Four cracked columns and one cracked footing on the new Memorial Causeway bridge must be torn down and rebuilt, the state Department of Transportation ordered Friday.
It is the largest forced rebuilding in DOT history, according to agency officials.
The reconstruction is expected to add millions of dollars and many months to a project that has suffered a string of embarrassing mistakes over the past 17 months.
Concluding the bridge's design does not meet standard design code, the DOT rejected a plan by bridge builder PCL Civil Constructors to strengthen the columns, then coat them with epoxy and sealant.
Officials with the DOT, which approved a redesign before construction to save time and money, said problems with the new plans were not detected during initial reviews.
"We don't look at every single calculation made," said DOT spokeswoman Marian Scorza.
Now PCL will have to come up with a new design before starting over, DOT officials said.
No formal estimates were available Friday on how much repairs will cost or how long they might take. Clearwater city officials feared at least a year's delay on the $69.3-million state project, which is already months behind schedule.
Under its $48-million contract with the state, PCL must cover costs for the repairs. But company vice president Jerry Harder blamed problems on faulty engineering.
"We will be holding our engineers accountable for this design," he said.
A spokesman for Earth Tech, the North Carolina engineering firm that redesigned the bridge, said Friday the company had not seen the independent review of its work that DOT engineers used to reach their decision. Reading from a prepared statement, Earth Tech spokesman Frank Pollare said questions remain about the nature and extent of the problems.
"We have doubts that this is the most appropriate course of action," he said.
PCL must submit a timeline for replacement by mid June.
The Canadian contractor has not decided whether to knock down the twin spans stretching between the targeted columns. Straddling the main channel in Clearwater Harbor, the roadways weigh roughly 26.2-million pounds and stretch more than 1,362 feet. Each column, slightly more than 60 feet tall, contains 426,000 pounds of reinforcing steel, surrounded by 1,051 cubic yards of concrete.
Environmental restrictions likely will prevent PCL from using explosives near the channel, an engineering consultant overseeing the project said. The contractor used that method in December 2002 on another damaged span over land.
This time, the damaged sections would need to come down piece by piece, Harder agreed.
The forced rebuilding couldn't come at a worse time.
A sharp spike in raw material costs, particularly steel, along with rising labor costs and other factors could add millions to the price tag, industry experts suggested Friday.
PCL hasn't divulged how much it will spend. In any case, it will be far more than the roughly $2-million it spent erecting the affected parts of the bridge.
When PCL was awarded the bridge contract three years ago, builders were paying a high of about $150 per ton of scrap steel; in some cases prices were under $100 a ton. Between October 2003 and February 2004, the price soared to about $300 per ton, according to Associated Builders and Contractors, a national builders trade group.
"It makes it very difficult for the contractor," said Scott Brown, a spokesman for the builders group.
Brian Crawford, Associated Builders' director of legislative affairs, said rising steel prices alone could add $1-million to what was a $2-million job three years ago.
And steel isn't the only problem. The cost of ready-mixed concrete also is poised to rise sharply, experts said.
The culprits for rising prices are the same for both steel and concrete. No. 1 is China, whose building boom is draining supplies out of the marketplace. To meet its own demands, China has placed some restriction on building material exports. Sharp demand in Korea and the United States, especially in active markets like Florida, adds to the pressure.
It's not unusual for contractors to build clauses in their contract to pass on some of the rising costs in raw materials. But that wouldn't apply if PCL or its subcontractors are liable for mistakes with the bridge.
In Clearwater, city officials said they support DOT's decision. But some worry about a contract provision that holds the city liable for certain cost overruns, including legal bills.
In its deal with the state, finalized in 2001, Clearwater agreed to share costs for the sleek 74-foot-tall bridge and to pick up the tab for unforeseen added expenses. The agreement does not apply to extra costs for construction errors.
No lawsuits have been filed, but the threat looms larger as wrinkles add up.
"When things get this convoluted, you just never know how it's all going to wash out," said Vice Mayor Frank Hibbard. "I keep saying to myself, "They're going to do things right now.' But that's what we said after the first decking problem."
HDR of Tampa drafted the original designs for the Memorial Causeway bridge. Initially, the roadway was to be fastened to its supports using "pot bearings," which would have allowed the roadway to rock back and forth during construction, helping distribute force along its surface.
After being awarded the contract, PCL hired Earth Tech to redesign the project. Using the new plans, which were reviewed by HDR and approved by the DOT, the roadbed was connected directly to the support columns. That meant the columns tilted slightly back and forth with the roadway as sections were added on each end. Engineers agree that cracks in the columns were caused when the roadway got too far out of balance during construction.
Meanwhile, the contractor is still studying how to fix another damaged section of the roadway, which fell seven inches after its temporary support scaffolding buckled in early February.
And last month, PCL's certification to bid on new state jobs expired after DOT raised questions about the series of blunders in Clearwater and others on the John Ringling Causeway in Sarasota.
The contractor must answer for the mixups or risk losing its annual certification to bid on future state jobs.
Starting July 22, PCL must pay the state $15,089 in damages for every day the bridge is not finished.
- Jennifer Farrell can be reached at farrell@sptimes.com or 727 445-4160.