Cracks in newly placed concrete during the current construction of the Pensacola Bay Bridge in Florida recently caused two temporary halts to work on the deck of the $400 million span, state officials told the Navarre Press Wednesday.
The work stoppage was specifically on the new concrete bridge deck following an inspection in March. The Florida Department of Transportation (FDOT) described the inspection as routine. It is unclear whether the inspection came after the fatal collapse of a bridge at Florida International University in Miami on March 15. The Pensacola Bay Bridge deck work reportedly stopped twice—first between April 5 and April 16 of this year, and again between June 26 and June 27.
Construction of the bridge began in 2017 and is scheduled to be finished in 2020. But the contractor, Skanska USA, faces a deadline on Jan. 26, 2019 to finish the eastbound section—meaning essentially three of the eventual six lanes—in order to earn a $15 million completion bonus.
The inspection, evaluation of the cracks and the decision to restart the work all came from within the ranks of FDOT and Skanska. No public announcement of the cracking was made nor was any outside agency or contractor not already involved with the bridge called in to evaluate.
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Source: Navarre Press
