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Treasure Island span to close for 6 long months

The Treasure Island span will be off-limits for six months. "We are just going to have to grin and bear it," the mayor says.

By KATHY SAUNDERS
Published November 20, 2005

TREASURE ISLAND - Instead of four months, the Treasure Island Causeway Bridge will be closed to traffic for six months. And, instead of in March, the bridge will close Jan. 3.

Contractors had planned to spend the first couple of months of 2006 installing boxes of steel that balance the bridge. But the extra-strength steel they needed wasn't available to the manufacturer because it was shipped to Iraq for troop vehicles.

"I don't have a problem with that. It's just timing is everything," said city Public Works Director Don Hambidge. He said the city's steel vendor, Hardie-Tyne from Birmingham, Ala., is fabricating the bridge spans and expects to have the materials available in March.

"Now the only thing we can do is take what we were going to do last and do it first," he said. That means demolishing the bascule piers and spans.

"Once those are gone then we can erect the steel and put in the fender piles," he said.

The bridge will be open to marine traffic, although city officials say the openings may sometimes be limited to one leaf.

"If you've got a real big boat, you might not want to chance it," Hambidge cautioned.

For six months, traffic to and from Treasure Island will be diverted across the John's Pass Bridge through Madeira Beach to the north and to the Corey Causeway in St. Pete Beach to the south.

"We are just going to have to grin and bear it," said Mayor Mary Maloof. "We did the same thing for a few months in the 1980s when the bridge was being repaired. You just learn to leave early."

She plans to remind constituents that "once the new bridge is opened, you're not going to have to stop as often and there will be no more tolls."

The northern half of the new drawbridge will be bigger and heavier than the southern half because it includes two lanes and a 10-foot pedestrian and bicycle path along the side.

While dismantling the two remaining lanes of the old bridge, crews will be completing the two new northern lanes. Those are expected to open in June or July. The southernmost lanes will be complete in late 2007. The new bridge was designed to have a 75-year lifespan.

"My whole thing is to have the bridge open for hurricane season," Hambidge said. "We'll be one month into it, but that's not too bad."

The city's contract with Johnson Brothers Co. calls for the bridge to be completed by July 1, with a few days' grace period. If it's open by June 10, the contractors will receive a $1-million bonus. If the opening is delayed, the contractors have to pay the city $25,000 a day for the first week and then $50,000 a day, up to $1-million.

Hambidge said the contractors have crews working 50 hours a week to complete the $50-million bridge.

The first two lanes were demolished last year and traffic along the remaining two lanes has been restricted to 4 tons. Hambidge said he is concerned the remaining portion of the 67-year-old bridge won't last much longer than a month. The state rated the bridge a 2 last year on a scale of 1 to 100.

"She's not getting any better," Hambidge said. The most recent critical deficiency report from the state Department of Transportation shows increased deterioration under the bridge.

"I don't even look at them anymore," he said of the reports. "I know what shape it's in. I'm under it every day." He said the weight limit "is the only reason the bridge has been kept open as long as it has."

The new bridge will be 16 feet higher than the current structure, which sits 5 feet above the water.

During the first two months of construction, the existing bascule piers will be demolished by using small explosive charges designed to crack the concrete into mechanically removable, manageable reef-building blocks.

"This way, we won't endanger marine species and can still achieve our demolition goals," Hambidge said.

The completion of the northern span and installation of the mechanical and electrical systems for the drawbridge are scheduled in May and June.

When it opens this summer, the new Treasure Island Causeway Bridge will have one lane of traffic in each direction.

[Last modified November 20, 2005, 00:54:20]