One collapsed Crosstown span removed; repairs next
More tests are planned at the sinkhole, which damaged parts of the elevated Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway.
By JAY CRIDLIN
Published May 21, 2004
TAMPA - Removal of one of the two collapsed spans of the elevated Lee Roy Selmon Crosstown Expressway should be completed by the end of today, an expressway spokeswoman said Thursday.
But removal of all the damaged portions of the new roadway is not expected to be finished until July 1.
In the past two days, a crane has removed at least half of the 16 70-ton concrete segments that make up each collapsed span, causing intermittent lane closures, said Lori Buck, spokeswoman for the Tampa-Hillsborough Expressway Authority.
Two spans have lain in a V-shaped dip near 50th Street since the portion of road was undermined by a sinkhole and collapsed April 13. A third span, which did not fall but was damaged, also will have to come down.
"It's going to take as long as it takes," Buck said about the July 1 target date. "The number one concern is safety. They want to investigate what happened and how to make the corrections."
The July 1 date fits just within the time estimate officials made in April: 10 weeks.
Construction crews are using cranes to lift the concrete segments of the collapsed spans onto trucks. The segments are then taken to the Port of Tampa, where they were originally cast, and inspected to see if they can be reused. Many of the segments are expected not to be reusable.
Tests of the sinkhole are already under way; a more thorough test will begin once the damaged spans are removed.
The 75,000 drivers who use the Crosstown each day can expect occasional lane closures over the next few weeks, but not during peak driving hours, Buck said. No westbound lanes are scheduled to shut down during the morning rush hour, and eastbound traffic should be clear in the evening.
The six-mile elevated roadway, part of a $350-million expressway expansion designed to ease the commute between Brandon and Tampa, is scheduled to open in summer 2005.
Construction was ahead of schedule at the time of the collapse, expressway officials have said, so the elevated road should still open on time.
"We're still within the range of the schedule," Buck said.
