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Safety Issues Close Main Span Of Friendship TrailBridge

Hillsborough County

"The rebar in the beams is rusting and breaking the concrete coverings. When the concrete breaks, that causes more saltwater and air to get in there, and that causes more rust," a Hillsborough County spokesman said.

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By RICH SHOPES | The Tampa Tribune

Published: November 6, 2008

Updated: 11/06/2008 07:03 pm

TAMPA - The main span of the Friendship TrailBridge, a popular spot with joggers and cyclists that parallels the Gandy Bridge, was closed at 5 p.m. today because of safety concerns and may never reopen.

Inspectors recently found as many as 50 deteriorating concrete beams. Only the middle section of the 2.6-mile bridge was shut down, from the wooden fishing catwalk on the Pinellas side to the catwalk on the Hillsborough side, about 1.8 miles.

Many joggers and cyclists said they had no idea the bridge was closing. Workers dragged a chain-link fence across the road at 5 p.m.

"I'm going to go on the bridge now and cry," Donna Carter of St. Petersburg said as she prepared to make one last run.

Cyclists and joggers said the TrailBridge offers a safe alternative to the Gandy. About 500,000 people cross the TrailBridge yearly.

Gene Meagher of South Tampa said he bikes across the span three times a week to stay fit. He's tried Bayshore Drive and Gadsen Park but says the park is too small and Bayshore too crowded to get in a good workout.

"There's just a nice feel out here, the breeze, sometimes you can see dolphins," he said. "When you come down here early in the morning when the sun rises, it's just beautiful."

Hillsborough County commissioners asked for a report in 30 days detailing the extent of the corrosion and the estimated cost to repair the bridge.

The county did an engineering inspection in March 2007, but at that time the damage "was not nearly as extensive" as what was found Tuesday during an inspection, Public Works Director Bob Gordon said.

Gordon said steel support tendons encased in concrete inside the horizontal beams were corroded. In some cases, they had snapped.

He asked county commissioners to terminate a contract with Misener Marine Construction to make $4.23 million in repairs. Half of that money would have come from Pinellas County.

Commissioners agreed and also approved a suggestion by Commissioner Jim Norman to ask the local legislative delegation to write a bill to turn the bridge over to the state to be used as a park. Repairing the bridge would cost $25 million, Norman said.

The normal lifespan for a bridge is 50 years, said Gordon. The old Gandy Bridge was built in 1956. The new bridge was completed in 1997.

The minimum the bridge will be closed is seven months because of the time to complete further structural investigations. Gordon said the span is not in danger of collapsing now but will reach that stage at some point. He couldn't say whether that would be months or years.

"Based on what we're seeing, it's not going to open anytime soon," he said.

Saltwater intrusion is the main culprit behind the decay, and the older the bridge has gotten the faster it has deteriorated. An inspection Tuesday found at least 50 damaged beams — the concrete supports that sit atop the pilings. Inspectors suspect dozens more are damaged.

"The rebar in the beams is rusting and breaking the concrete coverings. When the concrete breaks, that causes more saltwater and air to get in there, and that causes more rust," Hillsborough Public Works Spokesman Jim Valdez said.

The linear parkway was once the westbound span of the Gandy Bridge. After a new westbound span opened, a group of Tampa Bay area residents organized a committee to save the old one from demolition in 1997.

Using the $7 million in state money marked for the demolition, the group converted the span into a linear parkway. The renovated bridge, with lighting improvements and restored wooden catwalks, reopened in December 1999.

Frank Miller, executive director of the Friendship TrailBridge Corp., a citizens group trying to preserve the bridge, said he isn't giving up hope the bridge can be saved.

"Hopeful. That's the word," he said. "If it can at all be saved, it's worth it."

Reporter Rich Shopes can be reached at (813) 259-7633.

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