Last week's damage eroded some people's confidence in Bayshore's seeming indestructibility. Engineers are looking at the extent of the problem.
By KEVIN GRAHAM
Published September 3, 2004
[Times photo: Ken Helle]
Clark and Carolyn Craig of St. Petersburg, with dog Harris, take a Sunday stroll next to the sunken section of sidewalk on Bayshore Boulevard. They were walking along the lane of road that has been closed to traffic.
SOUTH TAMPA - Mark Middlebrook is a realist. Walking on Bayshore Boulevard this week, he figured that if Hurricane Charley had stayed on its projected path and hit Tampa Bay, the scenic street would be history.
For proof, he pointed to last week's intense thunderstorm, which pounded South Tampa with several inches of rain. All the water pushed out part of the sea wall and washed away soil beneath a 400-foot section of sidewalk along Bayshore, causing it to collapse near Knights Avenue.
"Imagine if Charley came through here," Middlebrook said. "I think this is just a symptom of a much broader problem."
He's surprised that Bayshore's sidewalk and balustrade haven't been damaged before. After the recent flooding, he expects the situation will get worse.
The balustrade has stood the test of wind, rain and storm surge for nearly 70 years. Built in the late 1930s under President Franklin D. Roosevelt's Works Progress Administration, Tampa's signature railing replaced a sea wall destroyed during a hurricane in 1921.
Until last week, no major damage had occurred.
"Off and on, we've had problems similar to this but not of this magnitude," said Jack Morriss, Tampa's director of public works.
Most of Bayshore's flooding problems occur around stormwater outlets that drain into Hillsborough Bay, he said. Some of the drains sit near the sunken sidewalk.
To avoid further collapse, city workers removed the damaged area, replaced the washed-away soil and put a fabric liner along the sea wall. Crews also closed the northbound lane closest to the sidewalk to traffic so joggers and bikers can get around the construction.
Soil erosion beneath the sidewalk contributed to its collapse more than the flooding, Morriss said. But there's no way to tell how, or when, the erosion happened. It could have been recent or over a long period of time.
Crews planned to inspect the rest of the sidewalk to see if any other areas have eroded into the bay. The water table along the water's edge is exceptionally high.
Meanwhile, engineers worked this week preparing a report on ways to fix the problem. Based on the findings, the city will have a clearer picture of how extensive the damage is, how long it will take to repair and how much the project will cost.
"It's not going to take us forever to restore that thing," said Steve Daignault, the city's administrator of public works and utility services. "I don't think there's any negative impact on the use of Bayshore. We just want to make sure when we do make the fix, it's a permanent fix."
The repairs also won't affect improvements proposed by a task force that looked at ways to make Bayshore safer, said Daignault, who led the group.
Amy Berend, who lives a few blocks off Bayshore, hopes the repairs are done quickly. She's preparing to run the Gasparilla Marathon in February and uses Bayshore to train. She prefers to run early in the morning, before the sun comes up, and worries about safety as long as the detour remains.
Clare Seng, who speed-walks along Bayshore, said the city should redo the entire sidewalk from Platt Street to Gandy Boulevard, one section at a time.
"This is the showcase of Tampa," she said. "I think they need to invest in it."
Information from Times archives was used in this story.[Last modified September 2, 2004, 12:50:18]
