Repair Work begins Monday, July 15th, on the Vina Del Mar Bridge connecting the island of Vina del Mar to Pass-a-Grille along 21st Ave. The bridge has seen numerous repairs over its almost 60 years. The 2013 Repair Contract was awarded to Sieg & Ambachtsheer for $107, 500 for repairs above and below the water level. (Find the full bid report at the ended of this article.) Sieg & Ambachtsheer also completed the 2010 Vina Bridge and Boca Ciega Isle Bridge repairs to the city’s satisfaction for $16,500. The new repairs are expected to take approximately 60 days.
This year’s repairs will be to the protection jackets on the pilings, compression joint seal replacements, repairing uneven transitions and concrete repairs. Specifically, the new repairs will focus on the following repairs:
· Repair pile 3-3, 5-2, and 5-4 using new cathodic protection jackets
o Option #1 – Repair the pile by removing the existing jacket and replace with a cathodic
jacket the full length of the pile. (Approximately 20’ total)
o Option #2 – Repair the pile by removing the existing jacket, partial, and replace with
cathodic jacket. (Approximately 10’ total) (OPTION CHOSEN)
· Replace compression joint seal at Abutments 1 and 7.
· Repair uneven transitions at bridge joints.
· Remove excess hardened concrete located along concrete bridge deck.
· Remove vegetation and debris from abutment caps.
· Repair spall in Pile Jacket 4-2.
· Repair crack in Pile Jacket 4-3.
· Repair spall in Pile Jacket 6-2.
· Repair delaminations on the undersides of the north and south overhangs on Span 3 over Bent 3.
· Repair spalls in face of Beam 4-4.
· Repair sealant at the NE approach sidewalk/abutment back wall transition.
· Repair spall in the SW approach sidewalk along the abutment back wall transition.
The bridge was originiall constructed by Vina Del Mar Corp., the developpers of Mud Key, in 1954. The Vina Del Mar Corp spent $100,000 to build the original 288-ft long, 34-ft wide bridge connecting their 600 lot sea-walled development to the Pass-a-Grille. An official of the construction company, Major Robert E Lee, Mannings S.C., gave the bridge the name ‘Major Lee’ after his award winning Chesapeake Retriever. Bronze casts of Major Lee can still be found on the four corners of the Bridge. The bridge was completed in 1955 by Hardway Construction. Hardway construction also built the original Sunshine Skyway. Two key aspects (depth of piling protection and general bridge design) of their design would turn up raise concern 25 years and again 32 years later.
The first concerns over the bridge’s safety, however, turned up only 3 years later in 1958. In 1958, Pass-a-Grille began taking bids to repair the bridge with the acknowledgement that the repairs would be chargecd to the Vina Del Mar Corp. The contract was awarded to Paul L. Beck to permanently repair the bridge. The city would sue the Vina Del Mar Corp for the $7,838 repairs and the title to the bridge.
In 1979, the first key design flaw of the bridge came to light as residents raised concerns about the bridge’s safety. Boaters who traveled under the bridge noted obvious deterioration of the pilings along the waterline. The key concern raised by the construction firm hired to do the repairs was that the bridge’s steel pilings had only been protected against oxogyenation with concrete jackets for the first 4-feet below the sand’s surface. A surface inspection was conducted earlier in 1979, but bickering about costs and who would pay for the inspection/repairs. Finally in November, an inspector was borrowed from the City of Clearwater to do a more thorough inspection of the bridge. The inspector immediately called the City of St. Pete Beach and informed them that they were best to take on further inspection by themselves as repairs were likely needed ASAP! By November 7, school buses and garbage trucks were banned from crossing the bridge and police officers were posted to monitor traffic on the bridge 24/7. The repairs would be done by Watson and Co. for a total cost of $95,000. James Carter of the repair company commented to news sources that he was uncomfortable even walking across the bridge. Watson and Co. deemed the bridge to be at 40% of its original strength.
In 1987, residents raised concerned about the over-all design of the bridge. The concerns began after the Clearwater Pass Bridge began to sag. The bridge was identical in design to the Vina Del Mar Bridge minus the draw-bridge. The City of St. Pete Beach awarded the $128,000 repair contract to Inter-Bay Marine Constrction. Inter-Bay Marine Construction had also be used to outsource the diving work on the pilings during the 1979 repairs.
In 2010, the Vina Del Mar Bridge was repaired after a July 2009 FDOT inspection report deemed maintenance necessary. The items repaired included spalled curbs and decks, sidewalk and abutment work, and the installation of protective pipe railing.
To find out more about the City of St. Pete Beach’s current projects see their website at http://www.stpetebeach.org/.
Posted: July 11, 2013
Written by Kaeley Dawson