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Bridge construction on track after first year
By DAVE SHELTON
| Article published on Wednesday, April 2, 2008 |
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![[Image]](/content_images/040208_bee-01.jpg) |
| Photo by DAVE SHELTON |
| One of seven beams, each weighing more than 87 tons, waits on a barge under the new Belleair Beach Causeway Bridge. |
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BELLEAIR BEACH – The new Belleair Beach Causeway Bridge remains on schedule with installation soon of seven precast concrete beams each weighing 175,000 pounds.
The haunch beams are to be hoisted into place on the vertical stanchions of reinforced, poured concrete and will mark the highest point of the new bridge, 75 feet above the Intracoastal Waterway.
Giant cranes with 120-foot-long arms raised the beams from the barges and hoisted them into place in an operation that was expected to take three to four hours.
Workmen crawled over the framework high above the water, preparing each pier for the crosspiece that will link them to create the new 1.5-mile span. Each worker is anchored to the concrete pier by safety harness.
Construction of the $72 million project, which actually includes two bridges and the causeway, began one year ago. It is scheduled for completion between fall of 2009 and spring of 2010. It is intended to replace the 57-year-old drawbridge that has lasted longer than projected when it was completed in 1950.
The new bridge is being erected tall enough so it won’t have to be opened for vessels passing underneath. It will be the tallest bridge in Pinellas County on the Intracoastal Waterway, according to Meg Korakis with Pinellas County Communications. She added that the wider 100-foot lane under the bridge will make it safer for vessels passing through.
Traffic has to be interrupted each time one of the 200-foot-long beams is hoisted from the barge on which it had ridden from where it was cast in Tampa. Workmen said this was a safety precaution.
Workmen pointed out the continuing danger from vehicles on the old bridge as work is under way. They said cars frequently veer from side-to-side as drivers gaze at the work.
Traffic has been interrupted throughout construction when cement was delivered for the 32 piers raised to support the road surface. Nine of those piers are in the water. Korakis said about 22,000 cubic yards of concrete are being used in the new causeway and bridge.
The route was chosen, north of the existing bridge, to ease the amount of traffic disruption, according to county engineer Tony Horrnik.
Bridge tenders, who operate the drawbridge, will not be put out of work as they can be reassigned to other, still-operating drawbridges.
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Article published on Wednesday, April 2, 2008
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