Building booms
Opus South Corp.'s work on the condo at 400 Beach Drive means some disturbing moments as neighbors are learning. The builder says not to worry.
By SHARON L. BOND
Published July 17, 2005
ST. PETERSBURG - Workers have started building one of downtown's coming luxury towers, but there is not much to see yet on the construction site of 400 Beach Drive.
Neighbors, however, say there is much to hear - and feel. Noise and vibrations have captured their attention.
"It's lifting up the china cabinet," said Su Stevens one day last week in a telephone interview. Her house is across Fifth Avenue from the construction site.
"I expected rattling windows, but I didn't think it would be like this," Stevens said. She is concerned about her fine china and crystal, which she planned to pack up.
Opus South Corp. is building 400 Beach Drive, which is named for its location. Stevens has talked to Opus officials who plan to send letters to nearby residents, warning them the vibrations will continue for at least two more months.
The movement is caused when steel casings are pounded into the ground. The casings create a form in which to build the concrete caissons that will support the 29-story tower. The casings have to go down past the sand layer until they reach limestone, said Justin Perrino of Opus, associate project manager at 400 Beach Drive.
Once the concrete is poured into the casing to form the caisson, the casing must be pulled out of the ground. So there is pounding when it goes down and vibrations when it comes up. Each process takes two to three minutes.
The condo tower requires 69 of the caissons, and the crew gets about two done per day, said Jason Smith, project manager for 400 Beach Drive.
"So there are about four times a day when the shaking" occurs for several minutes, Smith said.
The project is the second downtown for Opus, which is building Parkshore Plaza in the 300 block of Beach Drive. Workers also pounded steel casings for the Parkshore tower, and nearby residents and business owners complained then, too, said Jerry T. Shaw, senior vice president for Opus South, which is based in Tampa.
The pounding occurred at the same time that the Museum of Fine Arts had the Chihuly exhibit, said Shaw, referring to the fine glass installations that were at the museum in 2003. The exhibit was housed just across Beach Drive from the Parkshore construction.
"It (vibration) was noticeable, but there was not any damage," Shaw said.
Standing on the sidewalk on the north side of Fifth Avenue, vibration was noticeable one afternoon last week as a casing was being pulled out of the ground. The movement was much stronger near the casing, but it could be felt 30 or 40 feet away.
Perrino said there is more noise when a casing goes into the ground than when it comes out.
Vinoy House Bed and Breakfast is at 532 Beach Drive NE, across Fifth Avenue and a vacant lot from the construction site.
Owner Michael Roberts says the vibrations are felt and the noise heard and, yes, it bothers the guests.
"I try to share with the guests that it is uncontrollable. It is part of the growth of St. Petersburg," Roberts said.