Fill out this form to email this article to a friend
Causeway to close at 8 tonight
Crews will repair a connection between parts of the drawbridge. It is expected to reopen at 6 a.m. Thursday.
By AARON SHAROCKMAN
Published May 11, 2005
CLEARWATER - The Clearwater Memorial Causeway will close at 8 p.m. today so crews can begin to repair a connection between parts of the drawbridge.
The bridge will remain closed until 6 a.m. Thursday, state transportation officials said. When it reopens, the causeway is expected to be fully operational, Florida Department of Transportation spokesperson Kris Carson said.
A 600-pound pin that links the drawbridge fell out at about 4:30 p.m. Tuesday while the drawbridge was open.
Divers found the pin stuck on the floor of Clearwater Harbor at about 9 p.m. Tuesday, but they were unable to lift the 3-foot steel piece out of the muck. Instead, workers welded the bridge shut and it reopened for traffic at 4:30 a.m. today.
Divers were able to salvage the pin by this afternoon.
The drawbridge, built in 1963, is scheduled to replaced by a new fixed-span bridge, which is under construction. That bridge is scheduled to open to traffic Sept. 1, 2005.
The drawbridge will also be closed for repairs from 8 p.m.-6 a.m. Thursday night, Carson said.
[Last modified May 11, 2005, 18:15:34]
Share your thoughts on this story
|
News
Fifty years ago, they were screwed-up kids sent to the Florida School for Boys to be straightened out. But now they are screwed-up men, scarred by the whippings they endured. Read the story and see a video and portrait gallery.
Print
Email story
Comment
Letter to the editor
