CLEARWATER - The troubled Memorial Causeway bridge can be fixed at half the cost and in half the time of earlier estimates, state officials announced Thursday.
Under an agreement between the state and the contractor, the bridge's four cracked columns that straddle the Clearwater Harbor channel still would be replaced but the roadway above them would be preserved. The bridge would open to traffic by September 2005.
PCL Civil Constructors said the repairs would cost under $10-million instead of the $25-million first estimated and take a year to complete instead of two.
"They are going to provide the new bridge that we paid for," said Ken Hartmann, Florida Department of Transportation District 7 secretary , after he announced the agreement to the Clearwater City Council Thursday night.
Later this year, crews will begin to build smaller piers on either side of each cracked column. The new piers will form a bracket around the old one. Then workers slowly will begin to release stress between the roadway and the old piers onto the new piers.
When that is complete, crews will demolish the cracked columns. They won't use explosives, said Jerry Harder, a PCL vice president.
When the cracked columns are gone, the new twin piers will hold up the roadway.
"The two piers are stronger than a single pier," Harder said.
As part of the deal finalized Thursday, PCL will pay for the pier replacement. The bridge builder also agreed not to sue the city or state.
In exchange, the state has said it will forgive $15,089 a day in contract fines, which started to accumulate July 22.
"It feels like we've been on this job 97 of the 98 years we've been in business," Harder said. "But we want to make sure you're confident that it will be done right."
State officials and Harder both said the repairs will make the bridge safer.
The twin columns will look different than the other bridge piers, but state structures engineer William Nickas said the bridge's aesthetics will not be lost.
"I don't know why we hadn't thought of this earlier," Nickas said. "Sometimes you have to sweat it out before you see the light."
PCL continued Thursday to blame the cracks on faulty work by its engineer, Earth Tech, but Harder would not say whether the builder would seek to recover repair costs from the North Carolina company.
Earth Tech spokesman Frank Pollare maintained his company's position that the damaged columns should be repaired, not replaced.
"We were not part of the recent discussions that resulted in the decision to tear down the piers," Pollare said. "Earth Tech's position remains the same: We believe the demolition of the piers is technically unjustifiable, financially wasteful and not in the best interests of the residents of Florida."
Earth Tech will be replaced for the design of the pier replacement, Harder said. The company has been working with Parsons Transportation Group, a Washington, D.C. company, on the replacement design.
"There were a lot of engineering problems on the job site," Harder said.
The cracks in damaged piers extend about 6 inches into the structure and at points meet the first layer of steel reinforcements. PCL and Earth Tech previously have said the cracks could be sealed, but state officials have demanded the piers be demolished.
Even as PCL proceeded with plans to replace the columns along with one bridge footing last month, the company maintained in documents that it was seeking other potential remedies.
As part of the twin pier concept, PCL will not need to replace the cracked footing at the base of one of the columns because the new columns will rest in different places, Nickas said.
When the columns are removed, it will mark the third time crews have had to demolish significant portions since work began 30 months ago.
In December 2002, crews used explosives to drop an 80-foot section of roadway on the west side of Clearwater Harbor after it sank a foot and twisted during construction. Last month, crews used water-blasting equipment to raze a 40-foot piece of roadway when workers discovered more than three dozen serious cracks.
Engineers said that span was likely damaged when another section of roadway fell 7 inches after some scaffolding buckled earlier this year.
The problems and subsequent delays have frustrated city officials, who see the bridge as a key to the city's growth.
Mayor Brian Aungst learned not to hold his breath long ago.
"I will be cautiously optimistic," the mayor said. "We'll see you Sept. 1."
