In just seven months, Tampa-based Orion Marine will open the South Bridge to traffic on Gasparilla Island.
It will be the first of three bridges being built on Gasparilla Island for an estimated $40 million.
Jim Cooper, Gasparilla Island Bridge Authority executive director, said the three-span project is 28 percent complete.
Article Photos
The new South Bridge pilings are complete.
The finish date for the new South Bridge remains March 2013 and the completion date for the new Center Bridge remains December 2013.
As of Wednesday on Day 180 of the 630-day project the two new fixed bridges on Boca Grande remain on schedule to come online as scheduled.
Elevated road construction for the South Bridge on Gasparilla Island began last Friday. Completion of the north roadway ramp is expected to be done within a month.
Fact Box
To Go
What: GIBA workshop
When: 1 p.m.-3 p.m. Oct. 30
Where: Boca Grande Community Center Auditorium
Why: Swing Bridge Who: Open to the public
To Go
What: GIBA Board meeting
When: 1:30 p.m. Nov. 2
Where: Boca Grande Community Center Woman's Club Room
Why: Bridge replacement project
Who: Open to the public
Bridge construction keys
Prime contractor: Orion Marine Construction of Tampa
Start: Construction began March 12 on Center and South fixer bridges
South Bridge completion: March 2013
Center Bridge completion: December 2013
GIBA ad valorem milestones
April 25: Decided specific terms of property tax to be placed on ballot
July 9: File ballot language with county
Oct. 1: Toll increases to $6 per vehicle
Oct. 19: Official public notice of referendum
Nov. 6: Election Day
Orion will use flagmen for a concrete pour from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. each Friday through October to complete all footings, columns and caps.
South Bridge progress notes
95 percent of the old South Bridge concrete sections have been recycled.
Piling installation completed Tuesday with final piling dimensions being cut off Wednesday.
The last five piling pier caps will be installed by the end of the month.
Orion's road crews continue work on the new concrete bulkhead walls. South side bulkhead now complete. Tie rod and concrete deadmen work almost complete.
South side seawall will be backfilled by the end of this month.
Work on the mechanically stabilized earth concrete wall on the north side will gain a 4-foot square concrete slab wall sections. Backfilling the north side area with stabilized material will take place next.
A base layer of recycled old South Bridge concrete will be installed next week with a thick top layer of approximately 2-foot diameter limestone-quarried rock in between the new North side Seawall and the mechanically stabilized earth wall for additional wall support.
Center Bridge progress notes
Three of five footings are now complete. Orion pours the fourth footing next week.
The third and fourth of five columns will be poured this week and next. Each column is 7 feet in diameter and about 12-feet tall. The columns stand on the footings.
All Center Bridge primary structural support areas - footings, columns and caps - should be complete by mid-October.
One of five caps now complete. The second cap is being poured this week. Caps rest on columns to provide structural support for four beams that support the Center Bridge deck. Each Center Bridge cap is custom designed. Caps are 37 feet long, 6 feet tall and 5 feet deep.
