CLEARWATER - The contractor on the new Memorial Causeway bridge said Thursday that it is willing to replace four cracked columns but that it will cost $25-million and take two more years.
Tearing down and rebuilding the columns and a footing as ordered by the state Department of Transportation last month is "an extremely wasteful undertaking in terms of cost and time," PCL Civil Constructors said Thursday in a letter to the DOT.
The damaged sections took nine months and nearly $3-million to erect.
Instead, PCL asked the state to consider a faster and cheaper fix that four engineering consultants, hired by the firm, agree is viable and safe.
In a 10-page letter, PCL said the less drastic repair would take only a year.
"Our engineers believe that removing those piers is not necessary," said PCL vice president Jerry Harder.
From the outset, the contractor has pledged to stand behind its work on the $69.3-million state project but has blamed the problems on engineering mistakes by consultants.
Now, PCL wants to surround the cracked columns with extra steel and concrete that would carry the weight of the roadway. All four columns would become fatter, but Harder said they wouldn't look drastically bigger.
"These piers are 300 feet apart," he said. "If you were to add a foot or two to them it might be relatively subtle."
DOT officials received the proposal shortly before 5 p.m. Thursday, but had not had time to read it, according to spokeswoman Marian Scorza.
"We'll review it," she said.
The Clearwater City Council received an update on the bridge project Thursday night.
"We're still more or less in a holding pattern," said Mayor Brian Aungst, who added that the bridge is expected to last 75 years.
"I appreciate their tough stance on this," Aungst said of the state.
No matter which method is used, repairs are expected to add millions of dollars and many months to a project that has suffered a string of embarrassing mistakes over the past 18 months.
In Clearwater, city officials braced for even more delays and the chance that the city could be held liable for some of the extra costs associated with the problems.
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 expenses.
The agreement does not apply to extra costs for construction errors, but it could apply to certain legal bills if the dispute goes to court.
DOT officials have consistently said PCL, not taxpayers, must foot the bill for repairs.
And they have not budged from their demand that the columns and footing be replaced, rather than strengthened and coated with epoxy, as originally proposed by PCL.
Under its $48-million contract with the DOT, PCL must pay the state $15,089 in damages for every day the bridge is not finished, starting July 22.
On Thursday, PCL disputed the state's finding that the bridge's design does not meet standard design code.
Harder said he hopes the matter does not go to court.
A notice filed last month reserving the company's right to ask to be paid more by the state is a standard "contractual mechanism," he said.
"We strive to get the job done right, make our clients happy and come up with good solutions," Harder said.
And when the bridge is done it will be done right, he added.
"We are not here to push it through," Harder said. "We want it right, but that does not mean that we have to tear it all apart."
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