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Engineers to reinforce Skyway bridge piers©Associated PressDecember 26, 2001 ST. PETERSBURG -- Engineers have come up with a way to solve the problem of corrosion on the Sunshine Skyway bridge. The $10-million solution consists of pouring 300 truckloads of concrete into 71 of the bridge's hollow support piers. The solution moves away from a high-tech system of tensioned cables supporting the lower sections of columns. Construction crews also will reinforce the post-tensioned steel tendons that hold together the upper concrete segments of the piers like beads on a string. "If we do this, we know we have columns we don't have to worry about for the next 100 years," said Pepe Garcia of Florida's Department of Transportation. Corrosion problems became apparent during routine inspections 15 months ago. A third measure of protection calls for sealing the pier caps to prevent water from seeping in from above and causing more corrosion of the tendons on the high-rise section of the bridge. DOT engineers are in the final stages of writing the plan after spending $1-million studying Skyway corrosion issues during the past year.
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