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FDOT: Six Months To Repair Pensacola Bay Bridge
October 1, 2020
The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) said Thursday afternoon that it will take about six months to complete repairs to damaged areas of the Pensacola Bay Bridge, if the weather cooperates.
Once repairs are complete, all four lanes will be open with no load restrictions and at the same condition as expected for new construction.
FDOT and its partners have made the reopening of the Pensacola Bay Bridge a top priority with numerous efforts underway. The survey of the piers and topside inspections have been completed along with most of the underwater footings. Demolition is proceeding with a focus on two of the spans to allow for underwater inspection.
Skanska has ordered two additional cranes to replace existing cranes that were damaged or lost to assist in the process. Two additional subcontractors are also on-site, mobilized from as far away as Baton Rouge, to increase on-site resources with additional equipment and 40 additional personnel to expedite demolition.
Three of the Skanska’s barges remain on or under the structure and the removal of those barges will have to be done with great caution. The contractor has prioritized the removal of the barges and will work closely with FDOT to ensure the least amount of additional damage possible to the bridge in this effort. To date, the nine barges have been removed from the area including three from private property, three from the Bayou Texar region, two from Naval Air Station Pensacola and one near the Garcon Point Bridge.
The design is underway for the permanent repairs and reestablishment of four lanes of traffic on the bridge with a focus on substructure repairs which includes the piers. Durability, and ensuring there is absolutely no reduction in the bridge’s strength as a result of the repairs, remains paramount in the design plans, according to FDOT.
FDOT is assessing the final total number of the spans/piers that will ultimately need to be replaced. The contractor has already fabricated 25 beams and the piers needed to begin repairs. Skanska has also begun constructing more replacement beams and piers at its offsite yard and has reached out to other facilities to assist in production. This will allow the installation of these items to commence as soon as demolition of the damaged items are complete.
To date, FDOT divers have inspected 202 underwater footings while top side inspection teams have assessed 105 spans, 202 piers and 525 beams. The number of spans requiring full replacement remains at five and FDOT has identified an additional two that will require partial replacement. FDOT will have to replace a number of beams and is still determining the specific number needing replacement.
Comments
18 Responses to “FDOT: Six Months To Repair Pensacola Bay Bridge”
LR, you would have NO, ZERO, NONE legal standing to sue….SMH at the logic….
The bridge just looks cheaply designed and made to me anyway! The supports are small looking and too far apart, the roadbed looks thinner than it should be, and just o prove it look how easy it crumbled and broke apart. should have left the old well built span there for a backup, it probably would have outlasted the new cheap one by twenty years.
Gulf Breeze and Pensacola residents need answers. Their daily lives are substantially impacted.
Bridges should last 100 years. Our bridge broke apart in less than 1 year.
Local and state authorities may be doing a very good job. However, we need to ask for additional contracting of an engineering/construction company specializing in Bridge Design and Constructions from New York or California.
1. Was the old bridge beyond repair? Never saw any repairs in last 8 years.
2. Why was the old bridge removed so quickly?
3. Was the new bridge designed for hurricane category 4 conditions? If it was, should it not have been able to withstand the impact of the barge and crane?
4. The bridge after repairs must be stamped by the outside specialist engineering company.
I am sure the issue of responsibilities and costs will be resolved through appropriate legal means. We as Gulf Breeze and Pensacola residents need complete assurance that the bridge after repair will withstand forces of next hurricane and next. We are in that zone.
How about Skanska providing ferry transportation?
People, while time is an issue I would be more worried about structural integrity, the faster you go more mistakes are made it’s better to be sure it’s done correctly and then it will last for decades, not collapse 90 days after they finished it because it was rushed just saying!
Have fun driving around!!!!
I see a class action suit with all of the residents of Gulf Breeze, as well as Pensacola residents having to travel to Gulf Breeze to work every day.I’m not one of those people, however, if I was, I would be leading the fight.
Yea, i doubt it. 9-12 months would be my bet. At least it’s after summer but still, the beach and gulf breeze businesses are going to be hurting.
Barge Controls? Why do these keep happening? How about some restrictions? Like Daylight operation only. Bad weather No Go. With “Maximum” plus insurance requirements. Required equipment securement procedures.
When does the clock start?
I’m still betting “over”.
12 months if we’re lucky. To think FDOT or Skansa will move this forward with any kind of urgency is sheer fantasy. FDOT doesn’t care, and skansa will look for cost overruns on the contract to make back their profits.
Great they are getting two more cranes… I really hope they don’t secure them too the bridge!! SMH
The only way one can possible know who will pay for it is by having access to the contract signed between Skansa and the FDOT. Without that, everything else is just guessing.
@Jim
“Who is paying for it?”
Skanska most likely took out what is called a performance bond. The bond is worth some portion of the $400 million bridge contract. Usually it’s half. if a risk assessment in the project planning stage determines more is needed, they’ll up the bond requirement and go with that amount. Note: I do not know what Skanska’s risk profile was for this job so I am using an educated guess on the amount of half.
The bond is secured the same way a jail bond is: 10 percent of the face value up front, except in this case it’s more like an insurance policy instead of a penalty.
if the company borks something up badly – and they did, the full value of the bond pays out, and the company is on the hook to the bonding company to repay the full amount plus interest. this will allow skanska to pay out of pocket for the repairs, while still being able to stay afloat (pun intended) as a company and repay the bond over a period of several years.
What!! No urgency here! If this bridge was in Tallahassee it would be a priority! Hold the Sanska responsible! 24 hour days until finished, and a penalty if not completed in 90 days. Where is FDOT? Who represents the interest of the commuters?
I like word math problems. If they have two additional cranes to replace damaged cranes, then they are not additional cranes, they are replacement cranes. Just an observation
I willing to bet it takes longer than that !!!!!
Who is paying for it ??